The students of La Farigola del Clot in Barcelona install nests to house bats
“It’s a great idea. All schools should do it,” says biologist Tomás Ballesteros
Cities like Barcelona, Badalona or L’Hospitalet de Llobregat are home to between seven and ten species of bats. Any large old tree or any old building where cracks proliferate are ideal homes for them. Is a protected species that has aroused the interest of first grade students of the La Farigola del Clot school to the point that they have decided to install a nest in the yard. “It’s a great idea. Every school should do it,” he enthuses. Thomas Ballesterosbiologist of Bioeducathe entity that has advised La Farigola on its environmental project.
The idea arose last February as a result of a class visit to Casa Batlló. There, the boys and girls discovered the figure of a bat on the façade of the building and their interest in this animal began, about which the tutor Emma Roger has put together a whole transversal project which has included subjects in science, mathematics, geography, written expression, art, the environment and civics and which culminated at the end of the course with the presentation of the work to families. Thus, over the course of four months, the bat has served as the axis for transmitting knowledge of various subjects to students, in line with the philosophy of the new competency curricula.
When in class they had already thoroughly worked on everything related to these mammals, Roger He proposed to the students to take action and they considered installing a nest in the P-3 patio. “Since we have a garden, there are always mosquitoes there and we thought that the bats, which feed on flying insects, could help us,” says this teacher who is fond of ornithology. It was then that an expert in bats from Bioeduca visited them to begin to finalize the project. In mid-June, with the help of a parent from the school, two nest-houses were set up in a quiet corner of the patio, on a wall where the sun does not touch much.
Biologists have already warned them that it will take a while for the bats to get close. “They have to see it as a sure thing,” says Roger, who explains that they are not breeding nests, but shelters.
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For Ballesteros, class work on bats has been a “good excuse to take care of a highly protected species, whose reproduction should be encouraged.”
La Farigola was not the first school to carry out a workshop on bats, but it was the first to install a nest for them, at least the one known to Bioeduca. “They were passionate about the workshop. We explained how bats live, what they eat, where they live, how to make a nest, and they loved it,” recalls Ballesteros, who admits that children like the subject, but adults, not so much. “By fear“, he says. This biologist ensures that these animals do not pose any danger, but they should not be touched. “It is a nocturnal species, which does not bother. There are many, and they live in groups, but since people don’t see them, they are not aware that they are there.”