Primary Students Learn about Bats
Bats are our natural nighttime pest control, feasting on mosquitoes and other types of insects that feed on our agricultural crops. However, bats can be considered pests when they roost in the walls of our homes.
Proving adequate habitat for bats can contribute to maintaining healthy relationships with these creatures. Jasper County Primary School (JCPS) recently partnered with many organizations to complete the installation of four bat boxes on the JCPS campus. Habitat for Bats donated three large three-chamber boxes and onsite support to ensure boxes were properly installed in the correct location.
Habitat for Bats also provided posters, crafts, and stickers for students to engage with on bat box installation day. The Georgia Science Teacher Association (GSTA) provided educational materials to teach about bats. Derrick Jones and Carsen Dean, University of Georgia (UGA) Agricultural Agents, provided support and professional development about bats.
The UGA Agents hosted a workshop on how to construct a bat box. Elizabeth Proctor the JCPS STEM teacher attended the workshop and constructed a box that was installed on the JCPS campus.
JCPS provided trail cameras that are solar powered. The Jasper County Charter System (JCCS) technical team Marcus Frazier and Stephany Fincher connected the trail cameras to a secure WIFI connection and provided onsite technical consultations on the installation day, ensuring the cameras worked and could be controlled using an I-pad. The JCCS Maintenance Director Robbie Key provided ground support and prepped the installation site by securing a dig ticket and flagging the area.
Other community partners coordinated with Suzanne Lindsey of the Jasper County Women’s Farm Bureau set bat poles and installed the bat boxes 20 feet high. Community partners also attached the trail cams and solar panels to a technology pole. JCPS teachers are teaching about the importance of bats and brought classes outside to view the installation. Students loved the big trucks, loud noises, and the power of the auger as it dug the holes for the bat poles. All JCPS students are hoping for new Spring bat residents.
Activity at the bat boxes is collected by the trail cameras and students look forward to bat videos and images.
Although bats may not ever take roost at JCPS, students learned the importance of providing habitat for species we need to protect in our ecosystem. Habitat for Bats will continue to collaborate and provide consultation to provide the best opportunity to entice a cauldron of bats. This STEM project would not have been possible without all the many collaborators who are investing in the children in our community.
Mrs. Elizabeth Proctor at JCPS has been instrumental in coordinating all the community partners and seeing this very important and educational project come to life at JCPS.