Bat Ears
A fun experiment to do while working on the Brownie senses badge.
Bats ears are an adaptation to improve their hearing, because they navigate in the dark using echolocation – Bats send out sound waves using their mouth or nose.  When the sound hits an object an echo comes back.  The bat can identify an object by the sound of the echo. They can even tell the size, shape and texture of a tiny insect from its echo. Even bats with tiny bodies have relatively large ears. How would large ears affect your hearing?
Curl an 8 1/2’ x 11’ sheet of paper around your left ear. Hold it in place with the right hand.
Place the left hand right at the opening of the paper and rub your fingers together. Can you hear the noise?
Keep the left hand in place and remove the paper with your right hand. Can you still hear your fingers rubbing together?
Switch hands and try the experiment with your right ear.
The paper acts like an extension of your ear to funnel sound waves in. Bats’ relatively large ears funnel sounds back to them to help them find prey with echolocation.
