Stellaluna- Basic Needs

1. Purpose of Activity:
Overview
This lesson is the closing to a three part lesson. The focus is on how animals all have basic needs, yet
use different means to meet those needs. In Stellaluna, a last baby bat gets taken in by some birds. The
bat tries to live how the birds do, but struggles as she is very different from them. After reading the
book, the students will fill out a graphic organizer to sort the qualities of a bat from those of a bird. The
lesson will end with a discussion on how bats and birds all have basic needs, but have different ways of
meeting those nees.
Misconceptions
The students may think that birds and bats share more characteristics than they do.
Question
How are bats different from birds?
Lesson Objectives
Students will understand that all animals have the same basic needs.
Students will understand that animals have different ways of meeting those needs.
Students will be able to name the characteristics of a bat
Students will be able to describe how a bat hunts.
2. Target Learning Group [Age(s) or Grade Level(s)]:
2nd Grade
3. Approximate Time Involved:
10 min
45 min
4. Science Content Background Information for Teacher:

Diet
70% of bats consume insects, sharing a large part of natural pest control. There are also fruit-eating bats; nectar-eating
bats; carnivorous bats that prey on small mammals, birds, lizards and frogs; fish-eating bats, and perhaps most
famously, the blood-sucking vampire bats of South America.

Population
While some bat populations number in the millions, others are dangerously low or in decline.

Range
Bats can be found almost anywhere in the world except the polar regions and extreme deserts.

Behavior
Echolocation
Some bats have evolved a highly sophisticated sense of hearing. They emit sounds that bounce off of objects in their

path, sending echoes back to the bats. From these echoes, the bats can determine the size of objects, how far away they
are, how fast they are traveling and even their texture, all in a split second
Bats find shelter in caves, crevices, tree cavities and buildings. Some species are solitary while others form colonies of
more than a million individuals.
Overwintering
To survive the winter some species of bat migrate, others hibernate, and yet others go into torpor (regulated
hypothermia that can last from a few hours to a few months).

Reproduction
Gestation: 40 days - 6 months (bigger bats have longer gestation periods)
Litter Size: Mostly one pup
For their size, bats are the slowest reproducing mammals on Earth. At birth, a pup weighs up to 25 percent of its
mothers body weight, which is like a human mother giving birth to a 31 pound baby! Offspring typically are cared for
in maternity colonies, where females congregate to bear and raise the young. Male bats do not help to raise the pups

5. Next Generation Science Standards/Science Frameworks Involved:

Crosscutting
Structure and function: The way in which an object or living thing is shaped and its substructure
determine many of its properties and functions.
Patterns: Observed patterns of forms and events guide organization and classification, and they prompt
questions about relationships and the factors that influence them.
LS1.A
Bytheendofgrade2.Allorganismshaveexternalparts.Differentanimalsusetheirbodypartsin
differentwaystosee,hear,graspobjects,protectthemselves,movefromplacetoplace,andseek,find,
andtakeinfood,waterandair.Plantsalsohavedifferentparts(roots,stems,leaves,flowers,fruits)that
helpthemsurvive,grow,andproducemoreplants.
6. Materials:
Venn Diagrams- one per student
Pictures of caves with bats and birds in nests- one per class
Projector
Assessment sheet- one per student
Privacy shields
8. Safety Considerations:
There are no safety considerations
9. Lesson Resources:
http://www.brighthubeducation.com/lesson-plans-grades-1-2/102180-the-basic-needs-ofanimals-first-grade-lesson/

http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/investigating-animals-usingnonfiction-187.html?tab=4#tabs
http://www.defenders.org/bats/bats
http://science.cranbrook.edu/
http://www.batworlds.com/
SCIENCE INSTRUCTION
StepbyStep

1. Pre-Assessment/Diagnostic Assessment
The pre-assessment would have been done in the pre-lesson plan.
2. Inquiry Procedures:
Engage
1. Tell the students to come to carpet for a discussion and read aloud.
2. Reflect upon the field trip to see the bats. Ask the students what some of their favorite things
were. Keep this conversation short, but get the kids thinking about their experience.
3. Read the book Stellaluna, by Janell Cannon
4. Stop several times to talk about the differences between bats and birds. Why cant the baby
birds fly at night?
5. After the read aloud, have the students go back to their seats.
6. Hand out a Venn Diagram worksheet to each of the students.

7. Explain that bird and bats are the same in some ways and different in some ways. We are going
to organize their qualities.
8. Give one example for each section. Birds- Eat bugs, Both- Need food, Bats- Eat fruit
9. Have the students come up with as many characteristics for each group as they can. Each student
should have at least 3 qualities for each section on their own.
10. Discuss how birds and bats have the same basic needs, just like other animals. They need food,
water, air and shelter. Talk about how the bird and bat both meet these basic needs. Have students
share from their Venn Diagram.
11. Ask the students what shelters birds and bats use. After they answer, show pictures of how birds
shelter themselves and how bats shelter themselves: nests and caves.
3. Evaluate/Post-Assessment/Summative Assessment
1. Tell the students to sit at their desks
2. Have the student assigned to hand things out give each student a privacy shield.
3

3. Hand out the assessment sheet and tell the students to write their name on their paper, but not to
start writing.
4. Tell students that they will be working alone and not to start until you finish reading the
instructions.
5. Read the instructions out loud, ask if any students have any questions, then read the question
aloud again.
6. Give the students 20 min to write.
Remind the students to write their name on the top and collect their assessments.

References
BioExpedition. (2013). Bat Facts and Information. Retrieved from http://www.batworlds.com/
Cranbrook Institute of Science. (2014). Cranbrook Institute of Science | Michigan's Museum of Natural
History. Retrieved from http://science.cranbrook.edu/
Defenders of Wildlife. (2014). Bats | Basic Facts About Bats | Defenders of Wildlife. Retrieved from
http://www.defenders.org/bats/bats
Hamner, D. (2014). Investigating Animals: Using Nonfiction for Inquiry-based Research ReadWriteThink. Retrieved from http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lessonplans/investigating-animals-using-nonfiction-187.html?tab=4#tabs
Martin, P., & Finn, W. (2012). A Lesson Plan on the Basic Needs of Animals: For Grades 1-2. Retrieved
from http://www.brighthubeducation.com/lesson-plans-grades-1-2/102180-the-basic-needs-ofanimals-first-grade-lesson/
National Research Council. (2012). A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting
Concepts, and Core Ideas | The National Academies Press. Retrieved from
http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=13165