A perfect kindergarten science unit for the fall is bats! Kids love learning about echolocation, nocturnal animals and answering the question: do bats turn into vampires? Keep reading to see how we learn about bats!
Kindergarten Science: Bats Graphic Organizers
We kick off our bats learning with a schema map. We use Post It Notes so we can move our thoughts around as we organize our learning! As we go through our bats research unit we add learning and move any misconceptions! This is a very visual way for students to organize their learning and it’s very engaging! Using the vocabulary is so necessary!
We conduct our research using read-alouds, and videos and record our learning on graphic organizers. As we read, we add information to our graphic organizers. The true-false sorts really bring in higher-order thinking for the kids. If a statement is false, the kids have to explain why it’s false. All of the graphic organizers promote language building and vocabulary.
Kindergarten Science: Bats Graphing
After we learn about bats, we get to vote on how we feel about them. As we vote, we also explain our reasoning to build those language skills.
Kindergarten Science And Read Alouds: Stellaluna
As part of our bat theme, Stellaluna is a MUST! This is a great book about bats and birds but also about accepting people who are different than us.
Kindergarten Science And Read Alouds: There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Bat
Bat Snack Ideas
We made bat snacks using Oreos, Doritos, M&Ms, Twizzlers, and candy corn! You can also use Oreos and break them in half for the wings!
Kindergarten Science: Bats Art Projects
Here are some simple and fun art projects for bats!
Paper plate bats! Paint two plates black. Cut one plate in half to make the wings!
Cylinder Bats! Make a cylinder out of black construction paper. Cut out wings and glue on. Add eyes and fangs. Finally, add purple and black streamers to the bottom of the bat! They are very easy to make and look amazing hanging from the ceiling!
Handprint and footprint bats!
Kindergarten Science: Green Screen Bat Pictures
We use our green screen to put the kids in a bat cave!
And to conclude our bat unit, we turned our hallway into a bat cave as a surprise for the kids! I just cut out white bats and added some black lights! And BAM! A bat cave! This took me 30 minutes to do. And the kids loved it. White bats, lights and you’ve created a memory and an experience. Because not everything has to be huge and over the top!