Halloween.... A Teaching Moment!

It's easy to see why bats and spiders hold sway over spooky Halloween events. Included in both species are some pretty scary looking specimens! At the same time, this is what makes Halloween such a teaching moment for those who wish to educate kids about nature. This video was created to illustrate my song Bats, bats, bats. While the creator did not ask my permission, I, like many others, have enjoyed the fun bat images she used.

Photo: Little Brown Bat: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

The Little Brown Bat is a good bat to first introduce kids to. They're quite cute as bats go and are  fairly common and easy to see in North America (check out common bats in your country). Sadly, in recent years their populations have been greatly reduced due to the onset of 'white-nose syndrome',  a devastating disease that specifically impacts these small mammals.

Photo: Little Brown Bat: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

My previous blog post was about 'interconnectedness'. Bats are a wonderful species to use an an example of interconnectivity in nature. Bats eat enormous amounts of insects, including many pests that impact farm crops. Without bats, farmers would be forced to pay a lot of money to protect their plants. Bats are part of what we call Natural Capital - they provide a critical service for free!

So this Halloween, invite your kids to write a story, a play or a song to celebrate bats. Teach them how amazing these nocturnal creatures are. Find out what you can do to protect them.

Here are a few links to get you started:

Myths about bats

Bat ecology

National Park Service & Bats

We're All Interconnected!

It's been a while since I wrote the song "We're All Interconnected". At the time I had just read James Lovelock's book Gaia, which seemed to state the obvious - that the earth is a living system. While such a belief is inherent to most indigenous people, it was not, at the time (in 1979), the prevailing 'scientific' perspective. 

Lovelock's book ignited vigorous curiosity and debate about this sentient planet on which we live. To me, the most exciting part of it all was the invitation to offer humans compelling justification for protecting and cherishing the earth... after all, it gives us life.

Photo by Tessa Emery

How do we introduce the concept of interconnection to kids? 

AIR

Start with a breath.

Air connects us all. Where does the wind come from? Where does it go?

When I breathe in... am I breathing in air molecules that were once in your lungs?

WATER

The water cycle is one of the easiest ways to show kids how life on earth is interconnected.

If you were a drop of rain... what would your story be?

SEEDS & SOIL

The tallest sequoia, the tiniest flower and the sweetest strawberry all begin life as a seed. Plant a seed and watch it grow. Watch how the simple interactions of air, water, sunshine and soil interact to nourish this simplest yet most complex of living structures. 

Teaching kids about the interconnectivity of life doesn't have to be complicated. Awakening this understanding in them, however, is priceless.

Play Rosie's Heart game - click on the Heart to the right of your screen! 

Introduce your class to the Little Earth Charter - click link at the top.

Have fun!