Bats Unit Rationale

Context

During my student teaching experience at Mountain View Elementary School, I taught a bat unit to my first grade students.  This unit included aspects from reading, math, and life science.  During this unit, I discussed the characteristics of several different types of bats.  Some of the activities that were included within the unit were putting together bat fact puzzles, comparing megabats and microbats, measuring the wingspans of both megabats and microbats using both standard and non-standard measurements, playing an echolocation game in which the students pretending to be bats and bugs, and making bat t-shirts to wear on the last day of the bat unit.  We also used the book Stellaluna to integrate reading strategies into the unit.

Impact

The information and activities that were used within this unit provided my students with fun methods for learning about the wonderful world of bats.  My students were able to comprehend how bats are different from birds, and how bats are similar to humans.  They were also able to understand how different types of bats are different from each other and how these bats can be distinguished from each other.  Based on the final step within the KWL chart for this unit, my students learned a lot of valuable information within my unit.  I hope to be able to use this unit to teach my future students about the world's only flying mammal!

Alignment

I met standard 1, indicator 5 by teaching reading through the use of the book Stellaluna. The students used their existing knowledge, the information suggested by the written language, and the context of the reading situation as a method for learning new information about bats.

I met standard 2, indicator 2 by showing the students how to use appropriate measurement systems in various settings to measure the wingspans of different types of bats.

I met standard 3, indicator 1 by discussing the different characteristics of bats and birds.