Bats reading echolocation

They See With Their Ears (Rdg Age10-11 years)

http://www.k12reader.com/reading-comprehension/Gr4_Wk12_They_See_With_Their_Ears.pdf

Bats have an interesting way of looking at their world. Bats are nocturnal, which means they are most active at night. They don’t use their eyes to find their way around in the dark. They use their ears instead!

Bats are among a very select group of animals. The animals in this group also include whales, porpoises and dolphins. They all use ultrasound, which is a special noise, to do what other animals do with their eyes. This skill is known as echolocation. Echolocation allows bats to hunt for food. It also helps them avoid obstacles in their path as they fly in the dark. It even lets them communicate with other bats.

So how does echolocation work? It’s just like echoes in a large, empty room or at the edge of a canyon. Bats move air across their vocal chords just like people do when they speak or yell. Some bats make the sound come out of their mouths. Others make the sound come out of their noses. The sound they make has a very high pitch. This means the sound waves move very quickly. The energy from the sound waves goes out in front of the bat and bounces off any objects there. It creates an echo that returns back to the bat.

A bat’s ears often appear quite large compared to the size of its head. Depending on where the sound hits on the folds of the bat’s ear, the bat can tell very precisely where an object is. The strength of the echo can even tell the bat how large the object is. The echo from a moving object has a different sound that one that is still. It is either softer or louder. The sound is louder if the object is coming closer and softer if it’s going away. This is important because it helps the bat find insects to eat.

The process of echolocation is very natural for the bat. The bat does not have to think about listening, or what to do next. It works so well that the bat doesn’t care that he is “as blind as a bat.” He can see with his ears!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=gZxLUNHEmPw

1. What kind of sound does a bat use for echolocation?

All of them use ultrasound which is a special sound, to do what other animals do with there eyes.

2. What kind of echo does a bat hear from an object moving away from it.

They can hear that it has gone softer because it is moving away, the sound is louder if the if the object is coming closer and softer when it is going away.

3. What would you miss if you suddenly switched from seeing with your eyes to echolocation?

It would be remarkable  because it is such a different experience. At the mean time it would be not so fun because it would not so fun I would miss all the things that I used to do,.

3. What would you miss if you suddenly switched from seeing with your eyes to echolocation? Why?

Seeing my friends and playing in the mornings and playing sports and much more, but It would be quite fun I think being a bat but at the mean time I would not want to be a bat...

4. What is the main idea of this reading passage? Write a brief summary in 2 - 3 sentences.
5. That you can hear with your ears and that they use echolocation and how they hunt, because when you are in a large room or cave you can hear your own ech. This is a remarkable process of how they use their ears instead of there eyes.

7. What might cause echolocation to work differently for whales than it does for bats?
8. the things is that the whales are in water to the echolocation travels 5 times faster than it is in the air.

9. What does it mean when is says Bats are among a ‘select group of animals’
10. They do that because they are using ultrasound and that is how there start to use echolocation.

11. What is ‘ultrasound’?
12. this means that you can hear with your ears instead of your eyes and that was what all other animals do but it is a remarkable process of how they do something different..