Going Batty for Stellaluna

A WebQuest for second grade

Designed by Karen Buehler

Introduction

After being raised by a mother bird, Stellaluna must learn how to be a fruit bat.  She learns that she likes to eat fruit, instead of bugs, and that she is able to see well at night, unlike the birds.  Now Stellaluna has discovered that there are many different species, or types, of bats.  She wants to learn about these other kinds of bats.  Your class will join Stellaluna on her quest for information about other bats.  Let's go batty for Stellaluna!

 

Task

You and your partner will choose one type of bat to research. You will use books and websites to answer specific questions about your bat.  Then you will decide which partner will write a poem about your type of bat and which partner will draw a picture of your bat.  Once you complete these tasks, your class will put all of your information together to create a book.

 

Process

1.  Find your bat name and click on it to answer the following questions about your bat species:

        a.  How big is your bat?

        b.  What color is your bat?

        c.  What does your bat eat?

        d.  Where does your bat live?

        e.  List at least two other interesting facts about your bat.

Click on your bat.

Big Brown Bat

Big Brown Bat2

 Big Brown Bat3
Fishing Bat/ Bull-Dog Bat Fishing Bat/ Bull-Dog Bat2  
Flying Fox Flying Fox2  
Horseshoe Bat    
Indiana Bat Indiana Bat2  
Leaf-nosed Bat Leaf-nosed Bat2 Leaf-nosed Bat3
Lesser Long-Nosed Bat Lesser Long-Nosed Bat2  
Little Brown Bat Little Brown Bat2 Little Brown Bat3
Mexican Free-tailed Bat   Mexican Free-tailed Bat2  
Rafinesque's Big-eared Bat Rafinesque’s Big-eared Bat2  
Spotted Bat Spotted Bat2 Spotted Bat3
Tube-Nosed Bat    
Vampire Bat Vampire Bat2  
Western Pipistrelle Western Pipistrelle2  Western Pipistrelle3
Yellow-winged Bat      

 

2.    Now you need to decide who the illustrator will be and who the poet will be.  Both are important tasks!

 

The Illustrator:    Your task is to visit the your bat's website(s) again and inspect the photos closely.  You will draw your bat species for the book.  You will use the correct colors for the bat's body and wings, and you will include details of the bat's face.  Try to make your illustration as realistic as possible.

 

The Poet:    Your task is to write a cinquain poem about your bat species.  Follow the directions to create your own poem.

How to Write a Cinquain Poem:

First Line:  One word, giving title

Second Line:  Two words, describing title

Third Line:  Three words, expressing action

Fourth Line:  Four words, describing the title or feelings about the title

Fifth Line:  Another word(s) for the title

 

Bats

soft, furry

soaring, flying, gliding

cute, quick, fruit, flowers

Fruit Bats

Bats

caves, dark

clinging, hanging, landing

south, gray, insects, mayflies

Gray Bats

Bats

big ears

waiting, clinging, eating

crickets, beetles, scorpions, grasshoppers,

Pallid Bats

 

Evaluation

 

 

Beginning  1

Developing  2

Excellent  3

 Your Points
Cooperation Did not work well with partner/ Had 4 or more problems working with partner Worked well together most of the time/ Had 2-3 problems while working with the partner Worked well together during the entire project/ Cooperated with partner and helped partner when needed  
Participation Had to be reminded to keep working 4 or more times Had to be reminded to keep working 2-3 times Did not have to be reminded to keep working on the project  
Information Answered 1-2 questions accurately Answered 3-4 questions accurately Answered all 5 questions accurately  
Illustration/ Poem Completed the drawing or poem, but did not follow any of the instructions Completed the drawing or poem, but did not follow all of the instructions Completed the drawing or poem according to the instructions  
Spelling/ Neatness 4 or more misspelled words/ words are not written neatly 2-3 words misspelled/ most of words are written neatly 0-1 words misspelled/ neat handwriting  
      Your Total Points (out of 15 possible points)  

 

Conclusion

You have now completed your bat research!  Your work will become part of your class book that will help teach Stellaluna and others about different kinds of bats.  Your illustrations, research, and poems will help people learn more about different bat species.  Have fun as you read your bat book together and share it with others.

 

If you would like to learn more about bats, check out some of the following websites:

Credits and References

Books

Cannon, Janell.  Stellaluna.  San Diego:  Harcourt Brace, 1993.

Lovett, Sarah.  Extremely Weird Bats.  Santa Fe, New Mexico:  John Muir Publications, 1991.

Websites

Bats (an indexed list of helpful bat websites).  http://eduscapes.com/42explore/bats.htm

Bat Species (an indexed list of websites).  http://eduscapes.com/42explore/bats2.htm

Forms of Poetry for Children.  http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/poeform.htm

How to Write a Cinquain.  http://www.canteach.ca/elementary/poetry5.html

WebQuest Design.  http://webquest.sdsu.edu/designpatterns/COMP/webquest.htm

Other Bat WebQuests

BatQuest:  In Search of Stellaluna.  http://projects.edtech.sandi.net/chavez/batquest/navigator.html

Going Batty Web Quest.  http://webtech.kennesaw.edu/ncope/webquest.htm

Lets Go "Batty."  http://www.bsu.edu/CTT/webquest_examples/ctt_webquests/batwebquest/bats.htm

Stellaluna:  "The Big Bat Hunt."  http://www2.tltc.ttu.edu/butler/Student-Webquests/stellaluna-home.htm

 

"We all benefit by being generous with our work.  Permission is hereby granted for other educators to copy this WebQuest, update or otherwise modify it, and post it elsewhere, provided that the original author's name is retained along with a link back to the original URL of this WebQuest.  On the line after the original author's name, you may add Modified by (your name) on (date).  If you do modify it, please let me know and provide the new URL."  -- from Bernie Dodge's WebQuest site http://webquest.sdsu.edu/designpatterns/COMP/webquest.htm

 

Last Updated on 10/29/02 by Karen Buehler.