Educating communities about the importance of our bat populations is becoming more important as the threats they are facing increase.
Because of their importance as a keystone species in Australia’s ecosystems, and general misunderstandings within the populous, it is imperative that people are informed and well educated around Flying Foxes and Microbats so they can support the conservation and welfare of these incredible native species (you can find out more by watching our recent video on Grey-headed Flying Foxes at the end of this post).
Thankfully now there is an incredible set of teaching aids available that provide teacher and student friendly lesson suggestions and resources that directly link to the Australian Curriculum… and the creators want to share them with you!
In fact, a complete set of resources for Bat Education has been developed for the Australian school curriculum by Dr Alison Sammel and her team at Griffith University and is available for download below. These teaching resources mobilise expertise and knowledge of Flying Foxes and Microbats in relation to the latest scientific, statistical and health and safety information. Each resource aligns with the Foundation Year to Year 12 disciplines of the Australian Curriculum.
These educational resources provide detailed, teacher-friendly discipline and pedagogical content knowledge for all areas (Maths, English, Science, Humanities and the Social Sciences). The goal is to help teachers, who are already competent, experienced and skilled in teaching, develop the knowledge and confidence to increase awareness and build the capacity of communities to understand and effectively live with local Microbats and Flying Foxes, including the nationally vulnerable Grey-Headed Flying Fox.
The complete selection of teaching resources for each key learning area can be found below for you to download…
Click on the link below for Curriculum aligned ENGLISH resources for Foundation to Year 10:
Click on the link below for Curriculum aligned MATHS resources for Foundation to Year 10:
Click on the link below for Curriculum aligned SCIENCE resources for Foundation to Year 10:
Click on the link below for Curriculum aligned ARTS resources for Foundation to Year 10:
Click on the link below for Curriculum aligned HUMANITIES resources for Foundation to Year 10:
Click on the link below for Curriculum aligned HPE resources for Foundation to Year 10:
Click on the link below for Curriculum aligned SENIOR resources:
Project Leader and Head developer / writer: Dr. Alison Sammel. Please direct questions and feedback to a.sammel@griffith.edu.au.
Dr. Sammel would like to thank the Gold Coast City Council (for the K-10 curriculum) and the Logan City Council (the 11 & 12 curriculum) for supporting this project, along with the creative teachers who collaborated on the following teaching suggestions for every subject of the Australian Curriculum from Foundation Year to Year 10 and for selected subjects within the Year 11 and 12 curriculum. Thank you Merima Celahmetovic, Cherise Davis, Bonnie Gibson, Tara Hart and Carolyn Keepa.
The spectacle of hundreds of Grey-headed Flying Foxes gliding in to roost across our cities and towns is fast disappearing. The species is now protected by law but its populations are still declining. In this episode of ‘Back from the Brink’ we look at how it is possible to live alongside this remarkable flying mammal, and how it’s survival directly impacts the future of all life in South East Queensland.
For more information on how to get involved with saving bats or simply to learn more about them visit: www.batsqld.org.au or www.ausbats.org.au.
Take a look at some of our other ‘Back from the Brink’ videos here.