Echo the Bat Lift-the-flap Book

After a long awaited release, Echo the Bat is now available in print. The goal of this book is to introduce remote sensing to our youngest future scientists. The book retells the story of Echo to children ages 5 - 9 (but I have been told some older folks have secretly read the book). When Echo launches his adventure, he is followed by a satellite. Landsat images of the five habitats Echo travels provides a backdrop for the adventure. The text emphasizes shape, pattern, and texture and refers to the many flaps in the images. When the flaps are lifted, pictures of the land features are displayed underneath. This is definately a great resource for parents and teachers alike. To order your own copy, visit http://bensguide.gpo.gov/pt/teachers/environment.html , or call 1-866-512-1800.

To learn more about the author, check out the August 24th edition of Goddard News.

This picture book of ECHO the BAT is accompanied by a set of activities that reinforce four basic themes or concepts fundamental to the interpretation of satellite imagery:

• Perspective
• Shape & Pattern
• Color
• Texture

The following sets of prompts are provided as ideas while reading to your child/student which introduces the child to the satellite images and prepares the child for these activities.

Introduction
As Echo begins his journey in search of the Bat Cave, he doesnıt know that there is a satellite flying high in the sky above him. The big pictures in the second half of the story show you what the satellite sees. Lift the pop-up pictures to see what Echo is seeing as he is flying. As you read the story, ask the child what shapes they see. Can they recognize a pattern? Can they describe a color or a texture? After reading the story, go back through the pages with the satellite pictures and ask some of the following:

Perspective
Do you think that the satellite and Echo are looking at the same city, river, mountain, collection of fields, and desert? They are. Are you surprised? What does the city look like from the satelliteıs view? What does it look like to Echo as he flies over the streets, yards, and buildings? What do you see when you ride or walk through a city? How can the same buildings, streets, and yards look so differently when seen by a satellite, by Echo, and by you?

Shape/Pattern/Color
Close the pop-up pictures so that you can see only what the satellite is seeing. Pretend that you are riding on the satellite and looking down. From your perch high in the sky, what colors do you see? What shapes and patterns do you see? What kinds of shapes and patterns have the same colors? Pretend that your friend is flying beside Echo and can talk to you through a special telephone. What colors, shapes, and patterns do you see from your satellite view? Can you guess what your friend is seeing as he/she is flying with Echo? Lift the pop-up pictures one at a time to test your guess. How many guesses did you get right?

Texture
Look at each one of the satellite pictures with pop-up pictures hidden. Do any parts of the satellite picture look like they could feel rough, smooth, bumpy, hard, spongy, feathery, soft, sticky, sharp etc. Choose a pop-up picture section and try to describe the texture (what it would feel like if you could touch them). Guess what you will see when you lift the pop-up. Were you right? What kinds of textures do mountains, rivers, fields, cities, canyons have? Can the texture in a satellite picture help you identify a feature on the ground?

What to expect?
At the end of this book, children ages 5-6 should be able to distinguish between what a satellite sees and what Echo sees. Older children (ages 7-9) should begin to describe what the satellite is seeing by just looking at the satellite view. Younger children should be able to identify patterns and color in the satellite image and compare these to what Echo sees. Older children should be able to describe the location of the these patterns and colors such as the square pattern of irrigated crops are near the river and green forests are on the tops of mountains. Texture is another important tool scientists use to interpret satellite imagery. Younger children should begin to extend the concept that texture is not only the way something feels, but is also the way something looks. Older children should be able to make more elaborate observations about texture in the satellite images.

Activities

• What are we looking at?
• Streams and Patterns
• Bumby, Wrinkled, or Smooth?
• Locating Echo

Lessons that accompany the book.

Science Standards and Benchmarks for these acitivities.

All activities are provided in the activities.pdf file
Activity sheets are provided in a separate activitysheets.pdf (139k) file

BIG BROWN BATS Big brown bats live almost everywhere in America, even in mountains and deserts. In Summer, many rear their young in the walls and attics of buildings, so people often see them flying through yards or around street lights in the evening. During winter, many travel to the nearest cave or mine to hibernate till spring. Others hibernate in buildings or deep rock crevices. Amazingly, during hibernation, they can allow their body temperatures to fall below freezing and still survive. Big brown bats are a farmerıs best friend. Even a small colony can eat many hundreds of thousands of crop and garden pests each summer. If youıd like to attract some to your yard at home, you might want to build a bat house. For more information on bat houses and how to attract these and other to attract them to bat houses, contact Bat Conservation International at batinfo@batcon.org (Photo Courtesty of Bat Conservation International)