Malaysia Outreach
These materials were produced by staff and volunteers from the Malaysian Bat Conservation Research Unit. They comprise a mixture of new materials and those adapted from existing activities. You can download as pdf or, to enable you to adapt the scenarios to your situation, as word documents.
| Malaysian Bat Party Pack |
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Downloads: MS Word - Adobe PDF
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The Bat Party Pack is a comprehensive guide for teachers, parents and educators to hold a fun but educational three-hour children’s workshop (or Bat Party). The workshop is designed for children aged 7-12, and the pack includes basic information about Malaysian bats, detailed descriptions of activities, how to make the relevant materials (templates included), suggested dialogue for facilitators, and tips on how to organize the event. The pack can be used in it’s entirety to hold the complete party, or the activities can be individually integrated into existing outreach programs.
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| BATS Leaflet |
| Download: Adobe PDF |
| A simple leaflet highlighting the diversity and importance of bats, with a few basics on bat ecology and myths. Provided as two pages, but designed to be double-sided and folded into thirds. |
| BATS Poster |
| Download: JPEG - Adobe PDF - Adobe PSD |
| Highlights the diversity of bats in Malaysia. Adobe Photoshop file provided so you can manipulate text/photos for your locality. |
| Bat Comic |
| Downloads: MS Word - Adobe PDF |
| Part of the Party Pack, but provided here separately as well. It follows the story of an insectivorous bat called Gema and covers the importance of bats as pollinators, seed dispersers and agents of pest control. A crossword, word search and maze problem test comprehension of the issues. High resolution format available on request. |
| Bat Math |
| Explore bat biology and conservation through math exercises. Solutions and facilitator notes provided. |
| Bats in Rainforests – Illustrates the abundance of bats in undisturbed rainforest |
| Downloads: MS Word - Adobe PDF |
| Life Statistics – Illustrates that bats are slow to recover after disturbance |
| Downloads: MS Word - Adobe PDF |
| Tons of Food – Illustrates the quantities of food that bats need to eat to support their metabolism. Leads into 'A Natural Pesticide'. |
| Downloads: MS Word - Adobe PDF |
| A Natural Pesticide – Illustrates that insectivorous bats are important agents of pest control. |
| Downloads: MS Word - Adobe PDF |
| Bat Games & Activities |
| Games and activities that explore aspects of bat biology and conservation. Facilitator notes provided. |
| Camping Bat Style – A creative way to find out how some bats make tent roosts from leaves. |
| Downloads: MS Word - Adobe PDF |
| Where’s My Baby? – A game illustrating how mothers find their pups in large maternity roosts, using a combination of spatial memory, vocalizations and olfaction. |
| Downloads: MS Word - Adobe PDF |
| Bat Moth – A classic game demonstrating how bats use echolocation to find their prey. |
| Downloads: MS Word - Adobe PDF |
| Bat Fruit Salad – A salad comprised of fruits pollinated or dispersed by bats to provide both refreshment during activities and to illustrate the critical role that bats play as seed dispersers and pollinators. |
| Downloads: MS Word - Adobe PDF |
| Role Play – Saving Batu Caves. For older student or adults, this is a role play activity to illustrate how different stakeholders perceive a conservation issue. |
| Downloads: MS Word - Adobe PDF |
| Bat Signs and Projects |
Catching and handling bats requires a lot of training and should be only
undertaken as part of a research program organized by an experienced scientist. BUT that doesn’t mean that nature groups or students can’t observe and learn about bats, and even design a project of their own.
The following three projects are suitable for children over 14 years old and adult naturalist groups. Each project starts simply and then provides suggestions on how to develop the project over a longer time period. The projects require little equipment, although ‘Project 1: Aerial hunters’ is enhanced by the use of a bat detector. |
| Project 1: Aerial Hunters - A simple assessment of the diversity of insectivorous bats hunting in your neighbourhood |
| Downloads: MS Word - Adobe PDF |
| Project 2: Finding Fruit Bats - Details how to look for signs of fruit bats foraging or roosting, and then develops investigations of diet. |
| Downloads: MS Word - Adobe PDF |
| Project 3: Monitoring Roosts - Describes a standardized protocol for counting bats as they emerge from large, relatively permanent roost sites (like caves and buildings). Can be used to monitor populations over time. |
| Downloads: MS Word - Adobe PDF |
| Publications |
| Two publications by Kingston et al. (2006a,b) that deal with the outreach program in Malaysia are provided as pdf files. |
| Kingston et al. 2006a.The Malaysian Bat Conservation Research Unit: Research, capacity building and education in an Old World hotspot. Pp 41-60 In: Proceedings of the National Seminar On Protected Areas. (eds. Sahir Othman, Siti Hawa Yatim, Sivananthan Elaguipillay, Shukor, Md. Nor, Norhayati Ahmad, Sharul Anuar Mohd. Sah.) Department of Wildlife and National Parks. |
| Download: Adobe PDF |
| Kingston et al. 2006b. From research to outreach: environmental education materials for the bats of Malaysia. Pp. 21-29 In Proceedings of the Best of Both Worlds International Conference on Environmental Education for Sustainable Development 2005. (eds. Noor Azlin Yahya, Elizabeth Philip, Terry Ong). FRIM, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. |
| Download: Adobe PDF |
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