Great Animal Research Links

Hello all! A parent has sent me an email from Zoo Atlanta for National Bat week. Our students studied bats last week. Many loved researching and learning new bat facts.  If you are interested continuing some research with your child,  the links below have some great ideas and activities.

Halloween is just around the corner, so let’s celebrate by learning about one  of the world’s “creepiest” mammals, BATS!  Zoo Atlanta invites you to take part in  National Bat Week, October 26 through November 1.  The Forest Service, a leader in bat education and research,  has provided many resources and materials for teachers to use in their classrooms!   Project Edubat and October 29 Webinar: Led by the U.S. Forest Service,  Project Edubat is an engaging educational program designed to prepare, inspire,                                                                                            excite, and motivate people to take part in conserving our bats! With Project Edubat you  can access an easy-to-use curriculum, wonderful bat education resources – and even  reserve a Bat Trunk. Project lead Cindy Sandeno will host a live webinar  about Project Edubat on October 29 at 2 p.m. EST. Please see the  attached flyer for more information on how to participate.  http://nctc.fws.gov/broadcasts “Battle for Bats” Film: This cornerstone of the White-nose Syndrome  (WNS) communication effort focuses on bats as important and fascinating animals,  the reality that we are rapidly losing millions of our bats to WNS, information on  how state and federal agencies and nonprofits are working together to fight  this devastating disease, and the important role that the public can play in  bat conservation. The 13.5 minute video is available in both English and  Spanish, and can be viewed athttp://vimeo.com/76705033 . Expressive Arts Contest for Bat-Inspired Art, Writing, Photography and  Music/Video!  The Get to Know Society will host an online expressive  arts contest for young people (19 years old or younger). Bat-inspired  art, photography, writing, music or video can be entered in this free  contest. Get to Know also provides a fantastic tool kit of resources  to help you use the expressive arts as a way to connect kids  with nature. Be sure to go to their website at www.get-to-know.org  for information on how to spark your inner artist, and participate  in the Get to Know contest!   BatsLIVE: A Distance Learning Adventure: An online, one-stop  resource for learning about bats and gaining skills to help others  become bat champions!  You will find lesson plans, exciting  recorded webcasts and webinars, links to great bat partners,  and multimedia tools that are all focused on bats!  Go  to http://batslive.pwnet.org for all these free resources and more. Save the Bats Campaign: National Bat Week will kick off a new,  national public action campaign called Save the Bats which is  designed to inspire Americans to become involved in protecting  one of our country's most important animals. Save the Bats,  managed by the Organization for Bat Conservation (OBC), is  primarily a social campaign and will use Facebook, Twitter,  Instagram, Pinterest and Tumblr--all with educational information,  planned sharing opportunities and action steps. Go to theSave the  Bats Facebook page and become part of the movement!   Teaching your students about the value of bats will bring  us one step closer to motivating the public to conserve these amazing animals! Zoo Atlanta may not have bats in our collection, but we run many other conservation  programs in Georgia and around the world. Click here for more information.  Best, Zoo Atlanta Education Department