Prairie Dog Town Relocation

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Going Batty!
Teacher Guide
This is an activity in animal conservation. It
guides students through the steps for determining
whether their neighborhood is a suitable habitat
for a bat colony. The goal is to determine if the
construction of a bat house in their vicinity is
feasible based upon various factors related to
the needs and behavior of bats. Students will
create environmental suitability maps using GIS.
Overview
Science Process Standard 4-3, 4-4 Process
Standard 5-1, 5-2, 5-4 Standard 4-1, 4-2
Oklahoma PASS Objectives
National Science Education Standards
Content Standard A (scientific inquiry) and C
(structure and function of living systems,
populations and ecosystems)
Middle School. Can be modified with additional
questions for higher levels.
Grade Level
Beginning to intermediateprior knowledge of
ArcView tools is assumed.
GIS Skill Level
Students should have intermediate abilities in
aerial image interpretation. Students should have
the understanding and ability to digitize
polygons on-screen. Students should have a basic
knowledge of bat ecology.
Other Skills
Time
Should be completed in two 50-minute classes.
Note to Teacher
Teachers can easily adapt lesson to their region
by finding the ecological data for bats in their
area.
Going Batty!
Teacher Guide p. 1
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Going Batty!
Teacher Guide
Materials
You will need aerial images for your study area.
You can find aerial images for your town/city in
Oklahoma at the following websites. You will need
these to map the land cover. It is necessary to
determine the species of bats in your study area
and whether they colonize bat houses.
This activity relies on several files in specific
directories on the c drive. Shapefiles (.shp)
require two additional files (.shx and .dbf).
Consult the list below
c\raise\images\2003 Aerials
Sources
Images www.ocgi.okstate.edu (2003 color aerial
images) www.geo.ou.edu Bat Ecology http//www.npw
rc.usgs.gov/resource/mammals/okbats/bats.htm
http//www.batcon.org/home/default.asp http//www
.batconservation.org/
Lesson Preparation
You will need shapefiles for the water bodies in
vicinity. Students can digitize these polygons as
part of this lesson (if they have the skills) or
they can complete the activity Creating Your Own
Data found on the RAISE website
www.geog.okstate.edu/raise/. If they create their
own polygons, you will need a location to store
the data on the c drive.
Developed by Brad W. Watkins brad.watkins_at_okstate.
edu
Going Batty!
Teacher Guide p. 2
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Going Batty!
Bats, like all animals, depend on
certain elements in their ecosystem. If these
elements are altered or removed, the habitat
becomes unsuitable, and the bats must move to a
new location to survive. If conditions are right,
you can establish a bat colony by using a bat
house that you can build or buy. This is a lesson
in wildlife conservation. Bat ecosystems are
altered on a daily basis. A successful project
will mean that you have created a new location
for bats to dwell.
In this activity, you will use GIS to
test the habitat suitability for the location of
a new bat house. Before you place the bat house,
you need to know if the habitat can support a
colony of bats. Bats need to be within a certain
distance of water, varied land cover
(forest-grassland edges), and need to have a
sufficient food source (mainly insects). To begin
this lesson, you must first choose where you want
to establish a bat house.
http//www.garden-and-patio-supplies.com/bat-house
s.htm
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Step 1
Getting Started
To begin, open ArcMap by double-clicking the icon
on your desktop.
When the program opens, click the open project
button .
Navigate to the following directory c\brad\rais
e lessons\ Choose the bat_house_project file.
Click Open
Going Batty!
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Step 2
Add and Modify Layers
You may need to create the necessary layers to
complete the project. For this activity, we have
prepared the layers for you.
You will have to add a new layer called
bat_house. This is a proposed location for a bat
house. You will use GIS to decide if this
location is suitable for a bat colony. To do
this, click the Add Data button
. Find the following folder c/brad/raise
lessons/ Choose the bat_house layer. Click Add.
We have already added the color aerial image that
contains the study area for the project. Turn on
this layer by clicking the empty box next to
it. (Hint You want to turn on the image first
because this will help you decide what colors to
make the other layers in your map.)
Going Batty!
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Step 2
Add and Modify Layers
Change the perkbatstudyarea symbol to a hollow
box so you can see the image that is hidden.
Click on the symbol to make these changes. Change
the Fill Color to No Color. Change the Outline
Width to 2. Change the Outline Color to white.
Click OK.
Make changes to the roads, streams,
water_bodies, and forest_areas. Remember
that the colors you choose should make sense to
you. For example, green for vegetation, blue for
water, and red or black for roads.
Going Batty!
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Step 3
Stop and Think
Take a minute to study the map once you have
changed the colors. Remember that the bats that
might colonize your bat house have two basic
needsfood and water. Answer these questions.
Questions
1. Bats need water to be ¼ to ¾ of a mile away
from where they roost (bat house). How can we use
GIS to determine this distance? 2. Bats
prefer open water bodies for their water supply
because they drink in mid-flight? Do you find
this type of water supply in your bat study area?
Explain you answer (what does open water look
like?). 3. Bat feed mainly on insects. What
is one way to make sure that your study area will
have an enough insects for your bat colony?
Going Batty!
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Step 4
Building Buffers
In this step, you will test the location you
chose for a bat house using GIS. You will create
a buffer (an area that surrounds a feature)
around your bat house that extends out to ¼ mile,
½ mile, and ¾ mile. From the Tools menu choose
Buffer Wizard. In the Buffer Wizard, choose The
features of a layer Find and choose the
bat_house layer in the drop-down list. Click
Next.
Going Batty!
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Step 4
Building Buffers
On the next screen of the Buffer Wizard, choose
the As multiple buffer rings option. Change the
Number of rings to 3. Change the Distance
between rings to .25. At the bottom, in the
Buffer distance section, change the Distance
units to Miles. (This will create a ring at ¼
mile, ½ mile, and ¾ mile from the bat
house). Click Next.
Going Batty!
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Step 4
Building Buffers
On the next screen, under Buffer output type,
click Yes. At the bottom, choose In a new
layer. Click the open folder button to save it
to the correct location.
Navigate to c/Brad/RAISE Lessons/bat_project_laye
rs/ Make sure that under Name it reads
Buffer_of_bat_house.shp. Click Save.
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Step 5
Changing Buffer Colors
Right-click on the Buffer_of_bat_house layer.
Click Properties. Choose the Symbology
tab. Under Color Ramp choose a
green-yellow-red. Right-click on the new colors
and choose Flip Symbols. Click Apply. This
changes the ¼ mile buffer to green and the ¾ mile
buffer to red.
Going Batty!
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Step 5
Changing Buffer Colors
Click on the Display tab. In the Transparent
box, type 60. Click OK.
Left click and hold on the Buffer_of_bat_house
layer and drag it down until it is directly above
the image layer.
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Step 6
Testing Your Bat House Location
Click on the symbol for the Bat_house
layer. Change the symbol color so that it will
contrast (stand out) from the green buffer
(bright yellow would be a good choice). Change
the symbol size so that you can see it
clearly. (Your bat house should be at the center
of your buffer rings.) Answer these questions to
test your results.
Questions
1. Do you find the necessary elements of a bats
ecosystem (forest, grassland, water) within the
buffer rings? If yes, which ones? 2. What
features are found within ¼ mile of your bat
house? What features are located within ½
mile? 3. Is this a suitable location for a
bat house? Why or Why Not?
Congratulations! You are Finished!
Going Batty!
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