** + Visit NASA.gov    + Science@NASA    + IMAGERS Home**
| **The Echo         the Bat  Book**      The Adventure's of Echo the Bat introduces remote sensing to our youngest future scientists. The book tells the story of Echo to children ages 5 - 9. Landsat images of the five habitats Echo travels provides a backdrop for the adventure. The text emphasizes shape, pattern, and texture of the satellite imagery and engages children to lift-the-flaps within the images. When the flaps are lifted, pictures of the land features viewed from ground level are displayed. This is a great resource for parents and teachers alike.        

 

**ORDER A COPY**      The Echo the Bat book is available from NASA's Central Operations of Resources for Educators (CORE)  or the Government Printing Office .

**LESSON ACTIVITIES**      To engage children beyond the book, check out our lesson activities that reinforce four basic themes or concepts fundamental to the interpretation of satellite imagery (perspective, shape & pattern, color, and texture).

**ABOUT THE BOOK**        As Echo begins his journey in search of the Bat Cave, he doesn't know         that there is a satellite flying high in the sky above him. The big pictures         in the second half of the story show you what the satellite sees. Lift         the pop-up pictures to see what Echo is seeing as he is flying. As you         read the story, ask the child what shapes they see. Can they recognize         a pattern? Can they describe a color or a texture? After reading the story,         go back through the pages with the satellite pictures and ask some of         the following: 

**Perspective**        Do you think that the satellite and Echo are looking at the same city,         river, mountain, collection of fields, and desert? They are. Are you surprised?         What does the city look like from the satellite's view? What does it look         like to Echo as he flies over the streets, yards, and buildings? What         do you see when you ride or walk through a city? How can the same buildings,         streets, and yards look so differently when seen by a satellite, by Echo,         and by you? 

**Shape/Pattern/Color**        Close the pop-up pictures so that you can see only what the satellite         is seeing. Pretend that you are riding on the satellite and looking down.         From your perch high in the sky, what colors do you see? What shapes and         patterns do you see? What kinds of shapes and patterns have the same colors?         Pretend that your friend is flying beside Echo and can talk to you through         a special telephone. What colors, shapes, and patterns do you see from         your satellite view? Can you guess what your friend is seeing as he/she         is flying with Echo? Lift the pop-up pictures one at a time to test your         guess. How many guesses did you get right? 

**Texture**        Look at each one of the satellite pictures with pop-up pictures hidden.         Do any parts of the satellite picture look like they could feel rough,         smooth, bumpy, hard, spongy, feathery, soft, sticky, sharp etc. Choose         a pop-up picture section and try to describe the texture (what it would         feel like if you could touch them). Guess what you will see when you lift         the pop-up. Were you right? What kinds of textures do mountains, rivers,         fields, cities, canyons have? Can the texture in a satellite picture help         you identify a feature on the ground? 

**What to expect?**        At the end of this book, children ages 5-6 should be able to distinguish         between what a satellite sees and what Echo sees. Older children (ages         7-9) should begin to describe what the satellite is seeing by just looking         at the satellite view. Younger children should be able to identify patterns         and color in the satellite image and compare these to what Echo sees.         Older children should be able to describe the location of the these patterns         and colors such as the square pattern of irrigated crops are near the         river and green forests are on the tops of mountains. Texture is another         important tool scientists use to interpret satellite imagery. Younger         children should begin to extend the concept that texture is not only the         way something feels, but is also the way something looks. Older children         should be able to make more elaborate observations about texture in the         satellite images.

**BIG BROWN BATS**

Big brown bats live almost everywhere in America, even in mountains               and deserts. In Summer, many rear their young in the walls and attics               of buildings, so people often see them flying through yards or around               street lights in the evening. During winter, many travel to the               nearest cave or mine to hibernate till spring. Others hibernate               in buildings or deep rock crevices. Amazingly, during hibernation,               they can allow their body temperatures to fall below freezing and               still survive. Big brown bats are a farmerÕs best friend. Even a               small colony can eat many hundreds of thousands of crop and garden               pests each summer. If youÕd like to attract some to your yard at               home, you might want to build a bat house. For more information               on bat houses and how to attract these and other to attract them               to bat houses, contact Bat Conservation International at batinfo@batcon.org

(Photo Courtesty of Bat Conservation               International)   |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  

Adventure of Echo the Bat | Student's           Site | Teacher's GuideIMAGERS HomePage | Acknowledgements           | About           ESE                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |