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

Cooperation

Cooperation is alive and well in nature, providing some great opportunities to observe this quality with your kids. For example, take a moment to watch a colony of ants. Ants cooperate in a myriad of ways, always working for the greatest good of the whole. They work together to collect food, assist other ants that are injured and endlessly transport grains of sand and debris out of tunnels ensuring the colony is spic and span. Of course it’s a little difficult to observe ants underground so if you’re feeling adventurous why not buy an Ant Farm? Your kids will enjoy watching the ants tunnel away! The Ant Song is a fun way to celebrate ants!



The Web of Life is truly a network of interdependent and interconnected organisms and humans are intricately connected to that web. Check out Principal Number 2 of the Little Earth Charter - The Interconnected Web.  What examples of cooperation can you find in the backyard or at the park? Some might be:
1. Soil – all kinds of organisms work together to break down organic material into soil, providing fertile matter for plants to grow in.
2. Birds - Get to know your neighborhood crows – they are social birds that will often cooperate to collect nest-building materials.
3. “Smarty Plants” this AMAZING episode from David Suzuki’s The Nature of Things will blow you  away!  It's incredible how plants and insects cooperate!

Plenty of fun examples of cooperation in nature can also be seen in coral reefs. One research team found that some reefs being threatened by a plant that was disrupting their food supply, called in Goby fish to get rid of them! Here's the Cooperation Song to get you in a cooperative mind set! If you find some cool examples of cooperation in nature, please do share! Have fun!