Current Events Lesson Plan: October 22-28, 2015
Current Event: The Real Life Vampire: the Vampire Bat
Vampire bats are three species of blood-eating bats in Central and South America. As the name suggests, the bat survives by drinking blood, usually from cattle, fowl, or horses. Vampire bats have been known to feed on people, but only in rare cases. A vampire bat homes in on its next meal by listening for the measured breathing of a sleeping animal. Special heat receptors on the bat’s nose help it locate a spot where the blood flows close to the surface. Then, the bat gently slices into the animal’s skin with razor sharp teeth, lapping up the spill of blood with its tongue. Special chemicals called anticoagulants in the bat’s saliva help to prevent clotting and keep the blood flowing.
Objective:
Bats are the only mammals that can fly. Like other mammals, bats are warm-blooded, have fur, and nurse their young with milk. Unlike other mammals, bats have wings. More than 1,000 species (kinds) of bats exist. They live everywhere in the world except the northern Arctic, the Antarctic, and some remote islands. The largest bats, called flying foxes, have wingspans of up to 6 ½ feet and can weigh more than 3 pounds. Kitti’s hog-nosed bats, sometimes called bumblebee bats, are the smallest bats and probably the smallest mammals, weighing about 0.07 ounces. Contrary to a popular misconception, all bats can see and many species have excellent vision. Bats also have highly developed senses of smell and hearing. Many bats can sense their surroundings using echolocation. In echolocation, the animal bounces echoes of sounds it produces off of objects in its path to collect information about its surroundings. The Behind the Headlines news story and related World Book articles explore bats and other animals.
Words to know:
Discussion Topics:
1. Vampire bats live in Central and South America. Ask your students to name some Central and South American countries. (Students might say Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, or Peru.)
2. In the 2000’s, millions of hibernating bats were killed in North America by a fungal disease. Ask your students to debate, “Do humans have the responsibility to try to help animal species survive, or should we let nature take its course?”
3. Vampires and vampire bats are often associated with Halloween. Ask your students to discuss the similarities and differences in how vampire bats feed and how legendary human vampires feed. (Students might point out that bats look for sleeping victims, they have no ability to enchant their prey; bats lap up their food, they cannot actually suck blood out of victims.)