Happy Bat Week!

Bat week is an annual international celebration of the role of bats in nature. Step outside around dusk and take a few moments to look for bats in your neighborhood.

 

Iowa is home to nine bat species: little brown bat, big brown bat, red bat, hoary bat, silver-haired bat, Indiana bat (federally endangered species), evening bat, eastern pipistrelle, and northern myotis.

Fun Bat Facts

• A small bat eats between 1,000 and 2,000 small insects every night. Bats use sonar to find dinner when it’s pitch black out. Bats make noises, which bounce off the bugs and back to the bats’ ears, where the sound is picked up by the bats’ specialized hearing.
• Bats are our only flying mammals in the state.
• One of Iowa’s few true hibernators, bats hibernate all winter until there are insects to chow down on again.
• Within three weeks of being born, young bats are taking flight. They grow quickly, being full-grown in about a month after birth. Young bats take off for their own roosts once they’re weaned.
• Bats hang upside down because it allows them to roost in places where predators can’t reach them. It also allows them to get into the air faster by falling to achieve flight.

Helpful Websites
Bats Bats Everywhere
Bat Conservation International

BatsLIVE

Project Edubat

Signs of Fall

Lead students on a walk through a wooded area, schoolyard, local park, or neighborhood sidewalk to look for signs of fall and investigate why leaves of deciduous trees change color.

• Point out the differences between deciduous and evergreen trees.
• Ask students to look for signs that indicate winter is approaching and record their observations – encourage students to look for animal signs as well (e.g., birds migrating, squirrels storing nuts).

Encourage critical thinking by asking:

What signs of fall can you see in the trees and on the ground?

How many different leaf colors can you find?

How do leaves change after they fall?

What will happen to the leaves?

 

Why Do Leaves Change Color?

With fall’s colder temperatures and shorter days, the cells of deciduous tree leaves begin to die. The dead cells block water and nutrients from the leaf. Chlorophyll, the green pigment in the leaves, breaks down and the yellow and red pigments begin to show through.

 

Native Americans had legends to explain the fall colors. Invite students to create their own imaginative stories.

For more information about Iowa Fall Colors, visit the Iowa DNR website.