Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

20 minutes – Part A: Bat BFFs
30 minutes – Part B: Bat Detectives
40 minutes – Part C: Bat Narrative
10 minutes – Reflection

Part A: Bat BFFs

Step 1.

Explain that in this lesson, students investigate the many roles that a single species plays in its environment. Students will use systems thinking in this lesson, meaning they will be considering how parts of the environment are linked and interact. You may want to remind students of past learning about food webs and how animals rely on each other in an ecosystem (they would have covered this in Science lessons). In this class, they will think further about other roles animals play in the environment as well as how the environment affects the animal.

Share with the class that they will be learning about how bats interact with their environment, specifically the black flying-fox (Pteropus alecto) and grey-headed flying-fox (Pteropus poliocephalus). Project the linked species pages from the ClimateWatch website for students to view.

Students may be unsure about the term flying-fox. If this is the case, clarify that flying-foxes are large bats that eat fruit. They were given this name because of their long, fox-like faces. Flying-foxes are also known as megabats.

Step 2.

Open the species page for each of the bat species on the Atlas of Living Australia website using these links:

Draw students' attention to the 'recorded occurrence' maps, explain that these include sightings that have been submitted by citizen scientists using the ClimateWatch app. These sightings are then verified by trained experts to make sure they are accurate. Explore if either of these species can be found near you.

Step 3.

Invite students to explore what they already know and how they feel about bats by closing their eyes and thinking about bats for a minute, considering the images and feelings that first come to mind. Then, invite students to do a two-minute minute sketch of a bat in the space provided on the Student Worksheet. Reassure students that this doesn't have to be an amazing work of art but they should aim to represent some of their feelings about bats in the sketch. Encourage students to think carefully about how they represent what they feel about bats. You may choose to give students access to a range of coloured pencils or markers, however this activity can also be completed using a single pen or pencil.

After two minutes of sketching, invite students to do a seated exhibition by holding up their sketches for the rest of the class to see. As students look around the room at the rest of the class's sketches, ask if anyone can see common styles in the bat sketches; for example, do the bat sketches look comedic, cute, scary, etc.?

Now, encourage students to discuss why they have certain views of bats, sharing any stories of interactions with bats, or media portrayals of these animals that they may have seen. No matter the outcome of this discussion, share with the class that while many people have a negative view of bats, today students will be discovering the importance of bats in the Australian environment.

Students could complete this activity by making a bat word cloud with terms that they associate with bats, instead of a sketch. These can be created freehand or as a digital collaboration, using websites such as mentimeter.

Step 4.

Show students the following clip, inviting them to look for any behaviours that challenge negative stereotypes of bats:

Meet the World's Biggest Bat | National Geographic (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FK9tWT5pA4)

Extension: For a more in-depth understanding of Australian bats, consider using the following video in place of the above clip, In Defence of the Flying Fox (https://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/3000668.htm).

Step 5.

Invite students to share their positive observations about the bats featured in the clip, such as the bats' vegetarian diet (nectar, pollen, and fruit that they collect at night when native tree flowers produce most of their nectar).

Expand on this learning by sharing that fact that bats play a number of important roles in various ecosystems. Insectivorous bats (or microbats) keep insect and rodent populations in check, eating disease-carrying insects such as mosquitoes as well as ones causing big problems to farmers, like grain weevils. Fruit bats like the black flying-fox and the grey-headed flying-fox spend the night feeding and pollinating important native and agricultural plants over long distances. By flying long distances from their roost camps each evening (30–40 kilometres) and between camps (hundreds of kilometres) fruit bats carry seed and pollen (genetic material) to other forests and trees. This cross-pollination is valuable to our forest ecosystems and food crops, ensuring a healthy flow of new genes. These bats are such effective pollinators that some plants have evolved to be pollinated exclusively by bats. Long-distance pollination is an ecosystem service that has become even more important as land is cleared and natural ecosystems become more fragmented.

Part B: Bat Detectives

Step 1.

Now that the class knows more about the importance of bats in their ecosystems, they will be looking at a 2014 case study where an estimated 45,000 flying foxes died in a single day. The students' challenge is to investigate what may have caused these deaths and what possible impact this event could have on natural and human systems.

Invite students to form pairs and access a web-enabled device in order to conduct online research. Invite students to access the Black flying-fox and Grey-headed flying-fox pages on the ClimateWatch website. Short URLs have been provided on the Student Worksheet. Draw students' attention to the 'What is it?', 'What to observe', 'Where and when', and 'More information' tabs of the site to uncover more information on the species.

Step 2.

Invite students tocomplete the Think Pair Share visible thinking routine to explore the question:

What possible changes to the environment could threaten flying-foxes?

You may want to start students thinking by providing the example of climate change, adding this to the board. Explain that a long-term change in temperature could affect flying-foxes' food supply by altering fruiting and flowering times.

Think Pair Share
Think pair share is a collaborative learning strategy in which students work together to solve a problem or answer a question.
Think - students independently think about an issue or question and record their thoughts.
Pair - students work in pairs to discuss their ideas and record new thoughts.
Share - students share their thoughts with the whole group or with other pairs to reach consensus.

If any students are having trouble during the paired discussion part of the activity, prompt them by asking what the basic needs of an animal are (food, water, and shelter). Then, invite students to consider what might limit or prevent a bat having access to these.

Draw the class together to share their answers and create a class list of possible environmental changes that threaten flying foxes, on the board. Possible threats could include: habitat clearing, fire, introduced species, and pollution.

Step 3.

Organise students to form small groups of 3–4 for a research task. Distribute the environmental changes that threaten flying foxes, identified by the class amongst groups as evenly as possible. Challenge groups to conduct online research to fact-check if their specific environmental change actually affects these two species of flying-fox. Explain that groups will report back to the class with their findings and should be ready to share the source/s used to verify the if the environmental change does threaten flying foxes. You may choose to provide the class with the example answer, "The Atlas of Living Australia states that flying-foxes are heat susceptible, therefore this environmental change does affect these species". If needed, remind students of the search strategies for Googling.

Step 4.

Invite groups to share their fact-checks, removing any environmental changes from the board that the class finds do not threaten flying-foxes. Once the fact-checked list of environmental changes that threatening flying-fox is complete, ask students to note them onto their Student Worksheets.

Step 5.

Encourage students to form new pairs. Explain that each pair will consider which environmental changes threatening flying foxes would be the most likely cause of the bat deaths in Queensland in 2014. Explain that students will need to supply a brief justification for their answer. Hold a class discussion to share which environmental change each group believes caused the death of over 45,000 bats in 2014 and why.

If the class responds well to friendly competition, you may choose to tally pair's answers on the board before you reveal the actual cause.

Step 6.

Reveal to the class that a heatwave was the cause of the bat deaths. Explain that heat-related die-offs also occur in other wildlife, including koalas, Carnaby’s black cockatoos, budgerigars, zebra finches, bumblebees, and butterflies, although such events are generally difficult to document. Because flying foxes live in colonies, it is comparatively easy to determine the impacts of extreme heat events on the species as a whole. They are 'bioindicators'.

Extension – If students wish to know more about how they can take action on the environmental issues you have discussed so far, further elaborate on the work of Earthwatch Australia's ClimateWatch program. Explain that ClimateWatch works to record long-term data about indicator species such as flying-foxes using an app and website. ClimateWatch asks citizens just like them to download the app and record sightings of various indicator species. The information that citizen scientists collect can then be used to understand the long-term impacts of changes to our environment. With this information, we can make a more informed decision about how to better manage the environment.

Part C: Bat Narrative

In the final part of this lesson, students will be writing a short story to educate a younger audience about flying-foxs. To do this they will have to conduct further research, synthesise what they have learned and present it in a creative narrative. If possible, it can be beneficial to team-teach this part of the lesson with an English teacher.

Step 1.

Project the two species location maps Black flying-fox and Grey-headed flying-fox, inviting students to do the same on their devices using the links in Step 4 of the Student Worksheet. Now, demonstrate how to filter for ClimateWatch data, inviting students to follow along with their devices. On one of the maps, select the 'facets' dropdown and scroll to 'data-provider'. You will now see where each of the data points on the map come from. Scroll down the list and select 'ClimateWatch'. As a class, zoom in on the map and find the closest sightings of flying-foxes to your school (depending on your location, this could be quite a distance).

The species location maps can be sensitive while zooming. For more control, progressively double click on the general area of your school until you reach a view where the school and surrounding bat sightings can be seen.

Step 2.

Explain to students that their next challenge is to create a 'day in the life' story of a flying-fox that could be used to educate younger students about the species. The aim of their story is to find creative ways to change the minds of students who may hold negative views about these important animals. Explain that students should write a one-page story that explores a day in the life of one of the two flying-fox species. The following list of information should be included in their story (write this list on the board):

Geographic information about the type of environment their story is set in (from the interactive map), especially information that may be crucial for flying-foxes.
Information about why the species is important to their environment.
At least one of the environmental changes that threaten flying foxes.
How human beings can better manage the environment to help this species.

Step 3.

Invite students to research and draft their stories. Once they have done so, students can pair up to share their drafts with each other and offer constructive feedback. If needed, remind students how to give constructive feedback e.g. two positive aspects and one suggestion for improvement. Once students are ready to create their final drafts, provide them with a piece of paper or access to a device with word processing capabilities. Invite students to read out their final story, or organise a gallery walk where students can display their stories around the classroom.

Organise with your local Primary school library to hold a display of students' final works.

Reflection

Invite students to complete the following reflection question in the Student Worksheet:

If a Primary class read your narrative and contacted you, asking which of the actions to help bats you suggested they take to make the most impact, what would you suggest and why?

Differentiated Learning

Extension – Invite students to turn their bat stories into a picture book with accompanying artwork. A range of online digital bookmakers such as my storybook can be used to create and share students' stories.

Challenge your students by suggesting that they communicate about flying-foxes to an older audience. This could include, parents, the staff at your school, or local council staff.

Consider looking for local field trip opportunities for students to see flying-fox colonies during dusk. For example the Yarra Bend do a monthly flying fox count, where students can hear from scientists and see as many as 60,000 flying foxes.

Provisions for Learning Support – For students needing additional literacy support, Part C of this lesson can be completed as a comic strip. Students could create word balloons and thought bubbles to accompany their images.

Teacher Reflection

Take this opportunity to reflect on your own teaching:

What did you learn about your teaching today?
What worked well?
What didn't work so well?
What would you share?
Where to next?
How are you going to get there?

Citizen Science - Animals on the Edge of Environmental Change

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