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Squeak and Seek

Activity

Bat Echolocation Game

Just like a bat, test out your echolocation skills! Gather a few friends or family and pick one person to start as the bat. The bat should close their eyes or be blindfolded. Everyone else is a moth, the bat’s prey! The bat starts by making a high pitched noise. Each time the bat squeaks, the moths should respond to the bat with their own noise, echoing back their location. Without looking, point in the direction you think a moth is! If you guess right, switch spots with the moth!

children playing outside, one is wearing a blindfold.

a Pipistrelle bat flying and echo locating

Science Seed

Bats, along with animals like dolphins, use echolocation to navigate. They make high-pitched squeaks that bounce off objects, creating echoes. By listening to these echoes, bats can determine the size, movement, and distance of objects. If they sense something big ahead, they change direction to avoid it. If the echo indicates something small and moving, like an insect, they swoop down to catch it! Humans can also use echolocation by making sounds, like clicking with their tongue, and listening to the echoes that bounce back from nearby objects. This can help blind people navigate their surroundings by detecting obstacles and understanding their environment, similar to how bats and dolphins do.

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earn Badges

Badges can be earned through hands-on experiences within each of the 16 branches of science, or “Science Slices.” You can earn a badge in each branch of science by doing four activities in these categories. We also encourage participants to keep a Nature Journal to record their memories, and to express themselves creatively through writing or drawing after each activity. We recommend that each child (and parent if they’d like) write or draw in a journal after each activity, with expectations of your children that match their age (the goal is self-expression, not perfection).

Explore Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired

The Ecologist School Pocket Guide: TSBVI edition is a collaboration between Families in Nature and the Texas School for the Blind & Visually Impaired as an effort to help our community learn more about the TSBVI campus, while getting outside into nature together! This booklet has 80 lessons across 16 different branches of science to help you play, learn, and volunteer on campus!

join Families in Nature

It is our vision to inspire all families to fall in love with nature and foster the next generation of conservationists. Becoming a member of Families in Nature will give your family the opportunity to have adventures in nature, experience field science, develop as youth conservation leaders, and make memories that will last a lifetime. Memberships are free for everyone.

Who are we?

Families in Nature works to create opportunities for nature connection with the purpose of sparking a deep love and desire to protect, conserve and restore the environment. Our mission is to connect children and their families to nature and to each other through time spent learning, playing, and volunteering outdoors. It is our vision to inspire ALL families to fall in love with nature and foster the next generation of conservationists.