Activity: Roost Requirements Design Challenge

Students design the “best” maternity roost based on survival needs.

Bats

Print & go
4 steps

Run with a class

If spring has a nursery, it’s hidden overhead. Quiet. Warm. Crowded. And full of tiny squeaks you’ll never hear from the trail.

Students design the “best” maternity roost based on survival needs.

Materials: paper, a simple roost blueprint template, and four requirement cards:

warmth
safety
proximity to food
weather protection

Extension: Link the design to a map: where would you place a bat house and why?

Questions to ask

where would you place a bat house and why?

Where it comes from

Most people meet bats the dramatic way: a quick silhouette at dusk, a sudden zig-zag over a pond, a “Did you see that?” moment that’s gone before you can point.

But spring is when bats become something else entirely.

Read the blog post ↗ Baby Bats in Spring: Inside a Maternity Roost · 2026-04-15

Run it

Ticks stay in this browser, so you can set up now and teach later.

What you need

Printable cards
Paper & pencils
A map or schoolyard plan

Steps

Students choose a roost type (tree cavity, bat house, attic, under bark).
They label features that meet each requirement.
They add one risk (cold snap, predator, human disturbance) and revise the design.
They write a mini CER Claim: This roost is best because… Evidence: it provides ___, ___, and ___ Reasoning: pups need warmth and safety because… Limitation: location and species change the answer

00:00

Workspace

Run it with your class

Set up the class, count what needs counting, write down what happened, then save it and take it with you. Everything here stays in this browser until you download it.

The class

Class or group Date Students Students per group

Counters

Results table

Notes as you go

Step 1: Students choose a roost type (tree cavity, bat house, attic, under bark). Step 2: They label features that meet each requirement. Step 3: They add one risk (cold snap, predator, human disturbance) and revise the design. They write a mini CER: Claim: This roost is best because… Evidence: it provides ___, ___, and ___ Reasoning: pups Anything else: what worked, what to change