Teacher Study Guide Stellaluna

Teacher
Study Guide
Stellaluna
Grades K-2
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ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE
Everybody's favorite bat swoops in for the musical premiere of Janell Cannon's
enormously popular book Stellaluna. Separated from her mother during a night of
foraging, little Stellaluna lands in a bird's nest and is happily adopted by Mama Bird, but
Stellaluna just can't shake her batty ways. The play is based on the book and is
performed by 5 actors. The actors portray both human characters and puppet
characters on stage. They sing, dance and play the piano. As puppeteers, the actors
use their whole body to manipulate the puppets expressively. The audience sees the
puppet and puppeteer together onstage.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
"I love the science of this whole thing," Janell commented. "Anatomy and physiology,
physics and how an animal is built, how they move, how they evolved. It's really fun!"
Janell Cannon is the award-winning author and illustrator of picture books about
unappreciated and fascinating creatures, including Crickwing, Verdi, and the beloved
bestseller Stellaluna.
A self-taught artist and writer, Janell Cannon has always admired animals, especially
creatures that have been misunderstood or neglected. Her love of bats, spiders,
Komodo dragons, and snakes inspired her work at a public library, where she
developed award-winning summer reading programs about these unusual animals.
While conducting research for a program about bats, Ms. Cannon found only two picture
books on the subject, both of which were out of print. She decided it was time to make
her own story about these wonderful creatures.
Ms. Cannon created Stellaluna (1993) in hopes that she would transform young
people's fear of bats into informed affection. "Fruit bats don't drink blood and won't get
caught in your hair. I hope to show them in a positive light so they might be given more
respect," she says.
With Stellaluna, she also wanted to touch readers by exploring a friendship between two
different kinds of creatures, a bat and baby birds. Ms. Cannon likens the book to "a
mirror, so that anyone who looks into it will see their own way." She never suspected
the book would become a runaway bestseller.
Ms. Cannon writes and illustrates picture books full-time. Born and raised in Minnesota,
she now lives in Southern California.
--Harcourt
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PRE-SHOW ACTIVITIES
Pre-Show Activity:
Stellaluna Trivia Quiz
Everyone wants to know about Stellaluna and her friends! Read Stellaluna, then answer
the questions below and find out just how much you actually know about the beloved
fruit bat. Check your answers by comparing them to the correct answers shown on the
back of this sheet. (Note: Most answers can be found in the Bat Notes section in the
back of Stellaluna.)
Trivia Questions:
1. Why couldn’t Stellaluna just fly away with her mother when the owl attacked
2. What are the names of Stellaluna’s three bird friends
3. Where do most fruit bats live
4. Though Stellaluna is a fruit bat, what other animal does she closely resemble
5. What is the scientific name for bats
6. Are bats the only mammals capable of powered flight
7. How does Stellaluna adapt to the habits of her new family, the birds
8. Do all the winged creatures in Stellaluna eat fruit
9. Who is the author and illustrator of Stellaluna
10. How many species of fruit bats are there
Answers to Stellaluna Trivia Questions:
1. Stellaluna couldn’t fly away because her wings were too weak.
2. Pip, Flitter, and Flap.
3. Most fruit bats live in tropical and subtropical climates that provide year-round
reserves of fruit, flowers, and nectar.
4. The fox.
5. Chiroptera, which means “hand-wing.”
6. Yes.
7. She eats bugs; flies during the day and sleeps at night; and doesn’t hang by
her feet.
8. No; the birds eat bugs.
9. Janell Cannon.
10. About 170.
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Pre-Show Activity:
Bat Myths
Many myths and stories portray bats in a negative way. Read on to find out the truth
about bats!
Myth # 1:
Fact:
Myth # 2:
Fact:
Myth # 3:
Fact:
Myth # 4:
Fact:
Bats are scary creatures that turn into vampires.
Sometimes people tell stories about vampires that can change into bats
but vampires are not real. Bats are very gentle and do not want to bother
humans.
When bats fly around they are trying to bite people and will get
tangled in your hair.
Bats will not hurt you and they certainly will not get tangled in your hair!
Their sharp senses prevent them from flying into people. For bats,
humans are not that interesting; they would rather chase a bug or a find a
squishy banana.
Bats are flying rodents that carry diseases.
Bats are not rodents. In fact, they are very clean and carry very few
diseases. It is always a good idea to remember that bats are wild animals
and should never be handled by humans.
All bats are blind.
Bats are not blind. They can see in the dark. The saying, “Blind as a bat,”
is not accurate!
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ALL ABOUT BATS
Bats are gentle, helpful and misunderstood creatures. Did you know that bats are
mammals just like us except they are the ONLY mammals that can fly Did you know
that bats live all over the Earth except in the Arctic and Antarctica There are almost
1,000 species of bats in the world but here in the United States, the little brown bat is
the most common. Some species of bats can live for up to 30 years. Have you ever
wondered how a bat flies Or how they navigate at night Read on to learn all about
bats.
Two Groups of Bats:
Bats are divided into two distinct groups: Microbats & Megabats.
Microbats are small carnivorous bats. They live in locations all over the world but
require hibernation or migration during the winter months. They have smaller eyes
than Megabats. Microbats may hunt insects such as mosquitoes, moths, beetles or
grasshoppers or they can eat fish scorpions, lizards, frogs or birds. Each night an
insect-eating bat eats half its own weight in bugs. If you weigh 60 pounds, that is like
eating 125 peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches every single day!
Megabats are large herbivores that eat fruit, flowers, nectar or pollen. Most live in
warm, tropical places. These have tiny ears since they rely on their eyes and nose to
detect food. Fruit bats have large eyes and can see better than other bats. Most fruit
bats eat figs, mangoes, bananas and nuts.
How Bats Help People & the Environment
Fruit bats are an integral part of cross-pollination and help our rainforests grow. When a
fruit bat grabs fruit off the tree and eats it, the seeds drop to the ground and those seeds
sprout into new plants. Or if a bat eats pollen from a flower, the pollen sticks to their fur
and rubs off on the next flower.
Insect bats help us by eating pesky insects that sting or bite people, spread diseases or
destroy crops. Some bats eat about 600 insects per hour! They eat mosquitoes, gnats,
midges and serious crop pests such as cucumber beetles, June bugs, stink bugs and
leaf hoppers.
Bats do not like pollution and cannot live near polluted water. If you see a bat in your
neighborhood, that means you live around clean air and clean water!
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Bat Body Parts
All bats have skeletons just like humans with arm,
leg, hand and foot bones. They have light bones
and small bodies which makes less weight to
carry through the air. They do not have feathers
but their bodies are covered in fur and they have
short legs. Bat legs are so short, they rarely use
them for walking but rather their tiny legs help
support the weight of their wings when flying.
Copyright © 1993 by Janell Cannon
Bat’s wings are actually formed from their hands
and long fingers spread out and connected with
a thin skin. A leathery skin-like layer of thin skin
called the patagium covers their hands and arms
forming the wings. This skin is so thin that light can be seen through it. There is no flesh
on the wing, just bones, nerves and blood vessels. The stretchy and rubbery skin of the
wings is like a webbed hand that allows the bats to fly, swoop, soar, dart and dive. A bat
bends its wings so well it can catch a flying insect in its wing and then scoops it into its
mouth.
Bats are nocturnal which means they are active at night. They fly at night because this
is when they can find their favorite meals. Sometimes so many bats fly together it looks
like a cloud of thick smoke. Some bats can fly as fast as 15 miles per hour. When they
are flying, bats use their tails for balance and for sudden turns and changes of direction.
Bats with tail membranes also use them as brakes.
A bat’s thumb is on the edge of its wing. Their thumb is small and stumpy with a useful
claw. Bats use these hooked thumb claws and the claws on their toes to hang upside
down. The claws also help them move around, scoot up a tree trunk, walk across a
cave wall, comb their fur and to clean their faces. Bats keep themselves very clean just
like cats by using their claws and tongues. When they hang upside down, bats fold their
wings around their bodies. This makes them look like tiny umbrellas neatly folded and
closed with their wings wrapped tight around their bodies.
Hunting/Hearing
Bats navigate by using echolocation. Some bats use
echolocation by screeching with their mouths and
others send out waves through their noses. Most of
their squeaks are too high for human ears to hear.
Echolocation is the process of sending out waves of
high pitched sounds. Once the sound wave is sent out,
it hits an object and then bounces an echo back to the
bat. The echo travels to the bat’s brain where the
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sounds form a picture of the animal’s surroundings. Echoes returning to the bat tell it
several things: the location and size of objects and how fast insects and other prey are
traveling. To tell how far away the object it, the bat keeps track of time between when it
calls out and when the echo returns. If an object is nearby, the sound comes back
quickly. If the object is farther away, it takes longer for the sound to travel back to the
bat’s ear.
The echoes that bounce off a tree sound different from the echoes off a bug. The
echoes are so precise and accurate that a bat can tell the difference between the
steady beating of a moth’s wings and the fluttering of leaves. As a bat travels above a
field or other open area, it sends out one or two calls each second. In the woods, the
bats call out about ten times per second. The “echoes” help the bats “see” the tree
branches, rocks, ground and other objects that do not move. Echolocation allows bats
to find and catch prey in as little as half a second.
Remember, if a bat flies into your house, open a door or window. The bats will use
echolocation to find the opening and fly out. Bats are not the only animals to use
echolocation. Dolphins and whales also use echolocation as a way of navigating
through the ocean.
Bat homes are called roosts. Some bats are
solitary and roost in trees. Most species of
bats live in groups called colonies. Some
colonies are made up of thousands or even
millions of bats, and some only have a few
bats. Colonies usually live in large caves,
attics, barns, garages, trees old mines,
tunnels or under bridges.
Bat Habitats
Bats hang upside down from perches or
resting places high above the ground. Resting
in high places keeps bats safe from predators
like hawks, owls, snakes, skunks, cats, dogs
and raccoons. Hanging upside down allows
them to fly away quickly. To begin flying, bats
let go of their perches and start flapping their
wings. Most bats cannot take off from the ground.
Copyright © 1993 by Janell Cannon
Hibernation
In the winter, many bats hibernate. During this time, they go into a very deep sleep.
When they hibernate, their breathing slows down and their heart rate drops from 900 to
20 beats a minute. They get ready for hibernating by stuffing themselves full of food
during the last weeks of warm weather.
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Never disturb bats in caves while they are hibernating. Bats will most likely die if they
are disturbed during their hibernation as they cannot find food during the winter. The
small physical movement from one location in a cave to another location can deplete
their stored body fat and cause them to starve to death.
Migration
Some bats stay in the same place all year long where it is always warm. These bats do
not hibernate or migrate because they have everything they need just where they are.
Other bats migrate before the weather gets cold and fly to warmer places. They stay
where it is warm until the weather starts to change and then they head to their old
roosts. Some migrations span over hundreds of miles.
Reproduction
Most mother bats only have one baby per year and usually give birth in June. A baby
bat is called a pup and many bat pups hang together in large groups called nurseries. A
single nursery can hold over one million bats! Some pups are born with pink skin and no
hair. Their eyes are closed at birth. Other pups are born with fur and these pups start
life with their eyes open. Each baby bat has its own special chirp and smell. Every
mother knows and can find their baby by this specific sound and smell! Bats are the
only flying animals that nurse. Each mother feeds their pups at least twice a night. After
each feeding, the mother leaves the nursery to find her own food. Female bats with no
babies often join a nursery and help other bats’ babies survive.
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POST-SHOW ACTIVITIES
Animal Research
Animals inhabit different kinds of environments and have external features that help
them thrive in different places. Think of an animal that is thought of negatively like a
scorpion or a mosquito. Research your animal at the library. Draw a picture of your
animal labeling each body part. Present your animal to your class; try to change
people’s fears about the animal so they understand why your animal is the way it is.
Experience Echolocation
(Requires Adult Supervision for Safety)
Microbats hunt insects such as mosquitoes, moths, beetles or grasshoppers or they
hunt fish scorpions, lizards, frogs or birds by using echolocation. Your students can
simulate echolocation in the classroom and practice “seeing” with sound.
Ask three students to be trees. The trees sit on chairs 6 feet apart and cannot move so
the bat and insect can go between them. Ask three students to be insects. Insects can
move one step in any direction after responding to the bat’s call. One blindfolded
student plays the bat. The bat points his arms in the direction he sends out his echo and
says, “Beep.” If a tree or insect is in their path, the tree says, “Tree,” and the insect says,
“Insect.” Insects are caught when they are tagged by the bat. If the bat runs into a tree,
the hunt is over.
Rewrite the Story
As a class, divide the story of Stellaluna into scenes on the chalkboard. Number the
scenes in sequential order. Remove an ending scene and ask the students to rewrite
the story with their own new ending. Try the exercise again and list all the characters in
the story on the chalkboard. Remove one character and ask the students to rewrite the
story incorporating a new character.
Theater Critic Exercise
How did the actors portray each character How did the actors interact with the set Did
any parts of the set transform during the performance Create your own puppets and
ask each student to show how they would perform and manipulate a puppet in the story.
Delicious Art!
Bats can be divided into groups based on their diet. A fruit bat would not like to eat an
insect and an insect bat would not like to eat a mango! Pretend you are a chef planning
a delicious meal for bats. Illustrate a menu for your bat friends. Make sure you include
an herbivore and a carnivore section. Herbivore menu items can include: flowers,
mangoes, dates, figs, cashews, peaches, bananas, papayas, avocadoes or guavas.
Carnivore menu items can include: mosquitoes, moths, beetles, grasshoppers, fish,
scorpions, lizards, frogs or birds. Think of fun names for your dishes or combine foods
to make new dishes for your bat friends. Draw an example of a carnivorous and
herbivorous bat in each menu section.
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Bat Labeling
Try to identify and label these body parts: eye, ear, arms, thumb, second finger, third
finger, fourth finger, fifth finger, elbow, tail, toes, leg, fur and wing membrane.
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EXTRAS
Appendix: Kinds of Bats
California Leaf-Nosed Bats: These bats live in lowland desert areas of the
western U.S. & Mexico. Instead of using echolocation, these bats find bugs by
listening for their footsteps or wing beats. Then they pluck the moth or mosquito from
the ground or plant. They can even hear a cricket walking!
Fishing Bats: From Central & South America, these bats catch fish and can eat
up to 40 small fish in one night. The Fishing Bat flies above the surface of the rivers
and lakes and directs its echolocation toward the water. From the echoes, the bat
can sense the ripples in the water and knows that a fish is swimming near the
surface. It drops its feet in the water and scoops up the fish with its big sharp claws
and eats the fish! These bats sometimes fall into the water but they can swim and
use their wings as oars to swim to safety.
Flying Foxes: These bats are giants in the bat world, with wingspans of up to six
feet. They weigh almost two pounds. They live in warm, tropical areas and usually
roost in treetops. They eat fruit, nectar, flowers and pollen but prefer ripe, squishy
fruit. Australia’s grey-headed flying fox feeds on the fruit of gum, eucalyptus and fig
trees. Without these and other fruit bats to spread seeds and pollen, many tropical
and subtropical forests around the world might not survive.
Gray Bats: These insect bats are endangered. They can catch and eat as many
as 3,000 insects each night! They can hibernate in only nine caves in the U.S.,
where the temperature stays the same all winter. In the summer, you may be able to
see gray bats at Nickajack Cave, near Chattanooga, TN; Rockbridge Memorial State
Park, near Columbia MO; and Blowing Wind Cave, near Scottsboro, AL.
Greater Short-Nosed Bat: A fruit bat that feeds on the pollen of wild banana
plants. Without these bats, the banana plants would die out from lack of crosspollination.
The bats and plants really need each other!
Hog-Nosed Bats: These insect bats from Thailand are the tiniest bats and the
world’s smallest mammals. About the size of bumblebees, they weigh less than a
dime and have a wingspan of just five and a half inches.
Vampire Bats: These bats live in parts of Mexico, Central and South America.
They are the only species of bats that eat blood. Most often they feed on the blood
of sleeping cattle or other livestock. With its sharp teeth, it makes a tiny cut in the
animal’s skin usually near the hoof. The cow or horse doesn’t feel anything and
usually doesn’t wake up.
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SOURCES
Berger, Melvi & Gilda. Screech! A Book about Bats! New York: Scholastic, 2000.
Earle, Ann. Zipping, Zapping, Zooming Bats. New York: HarperCollins, 1995.
Glaser, Linda. Beautiful Bats. Connecticut: The Millbrook Press, 1997.
Greenaway, Frank. Amazing Bats. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1991.
Kalman, Bobbie & Lundblad, Kristina. Endangered Bats. New York: Crabtree Publishing
Company, 2006.
Milton, Joyce. Bats: Creatures of the Night. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1993.
Penny, Malcolm. How Bats “See” in the Dark. New York: Marshall Cavendish, 1997.
Simon, Seymour. Amazing Bats. San Francisco: SeaStar Books, 2005.
Stewart, Melissa. How Do Bats Fly in the Dark New York: Marshall Cavendish, 2009.
Bat Conservation International:
Harcourt Trade Publishers:
http://www.harcourtbooks.com/AuthorInterviews/bookinterview_Cannon.asp
Teaching Pre-K-8:
http://www.teachingk-
8.com/archives/author_interview/janell_cannon_mysteries_of_the_misunderstood_by_k
atherine_pierpont_senior_editor.html
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