ClassX Video Lessons Youtube Channel Teaching Without Frills How to Write a Research Paper for Kids – Episode 3: Researching
Today, we’re going to learn how to find cool facts for a research paper! I’ve already made a plan, so now it’s time to do some research. Research means looking for information about a topic. Let’s see what I have in my plan. I wrote down what I already know and some questions I want to find answers to. When I find new facts, I’ll add them to my notes.
To find information, I can read books, watch videos, or search the internet. I’m starting with a website called PebbleGo. They have an article about bats. This page talks about a bat’s body. Did you know bats are the only mammals with wings? Their wingspan can be between six inches and six feet! Bats can be gray, brown, or black. This helps answer my question about what bats look like. I’ll write down that bats can be gray too!
The next page is about where bats live. Bats can be found almost everywhere in the world, except in very cold places. They sleep during the day in dark, quiet spots like caves. I was curious if they lived in Georgia, where I live, and it sounds like they do! They live in many places, just not where it’s super cold.
Now, let’s learn about what bats eat. Bats eat at night and use something called echolocation to find their food. Most bats eat insects, but some also eat plants and even small animals. I knew they ate bugs, but I didn’t know they could eat plants and small animals too. That’s interesting!
I’m still looking for more fun facts about bats. This page says some male bats screech to attract females. There are over 1,100 kinds of bats, and vampire bats drink the blood of cows, pigs, horses, and birds. Wow! I’ll write down that some bats screech and that vampire bats drink blood. That’s something new I learned!
I also wanted to know how fast bats can fly. I haven’t found that yet, so I’m going to search the internet. I’m using Kiddle.com, a safe search engine for kids. I typed “How fast can bats fly?” and found a link to National Geographic Kids. It says bats can fly faster than a child walking. A bat can fly 10 miles per hour, while a child walks about two miles per hour. I’ll add that to my notes!
Now I have all the information I was looking for, so I’m done researching. Stay tuned for Episode 4 to see how I use all this information to write my research paper. Thanks for learning with me!
Bat Observation Journal: Take a walk in your neighborhood or a nearby park during the evening and try to spot bats. If you can’t see any, imagine where they might be hiding during the day. Draw a picture of a bat and write down what you think it might be doing at night. Share your observations with your class and discuss why bats might choose certain places to live.
Bat Diet Experiment: Create a simple experiment to understand echolocation. Blindfold a friend and give them a small bell or a set of keys. Have them shake it while you try to find them by listening to the sound, just like bats use echolocation to find food. After the activity, discuss how bats might use sound to find insects in the dark.
Research and Share: Choose another animal that uses a unique method to find food or navigate, like dolphins or owls. Use books or safe websites like PebbleGo or Kiddle.com to find interesting facts about your chosen animal. Share what you learned with your class and compare it to how bats use echolocation.
**Sanitized Transcript:**
**How to Write a Research Paper for Kids – Episode 3: Researching**
I’m writing a research paper about facts. I’ve already made a plan for my writing, so now I’m ready to do some research. Research means finding information about a topic. Let me look back at my plan. Here are the categories or big ideas I decided to include in my research paper. I wrote down the information that I already knew and some questions that I’m wondering about. When I find new information, I’ll add some notes to my graphic organizer.
Now I need to find some information. I can look in books, watch videos, or find information on the internet. I’m going to start on a website called PebbleGo. Here’s their article about bats. This page is about a bat’s body. It says bats are the only mammals with wings. They have a wingspan between six inches and six feet. Bats are different shades of gray, brown, or black. This answers some of my questions. I have a section called “What Bats Look Like.” I just learned that bats can be between six inches and six feet. Wow, let me write that down. I already knew bats could be black or brown, but I just learned that they can be gray too. I’ll add that to my organizer as well.
Their next page is about bats’ habitats. It says bats can be found all over the world except in very cold northern areas. They sleep during the day and rest in dark, quiet places like caves. I already knew that they lived in caves. I was wondering if they lived in Georgia, where I live, and it sounds like they do. They live all over the world except in very cold places.
The next page is about food. It says bats eat at night and use echolocation to find prey. Most bats eat insects, some bats also eat plants, and a few eat small animals. So, bats do eat bugs, but I learned that bats can also eat plants and even small animals. Wow!
I’m still looking for some information to add to my page about what bats can do. Let’s see. This page called “Fun Facts” says some male bats attract females by screeching. There are more than 1,100 kinds of bats, and vampire bats drink the blood of cows, pigs, horses, and birds. Wow, I’ll write down that some bats screech, and I didn’t know that bats really drank blood. I will definitely add that to my writing.
The other question I wanted to know was how fast bats can fly, but I haven’t found that information yet. I’m going to do an internet search to see if I can find the answer. I’m going to go to Kiddle.com, a search engine that is safe for kids. I’m typing “How fast can bats fly?” Let’s see. I’m going to click on this link to National Geographic Kids. Here it is! It says bats can fly faster than a child walking. A bat can fly 10 miles per hour, and a child can only walk two miles per hour. I will add that to my organizer.
Now I have all of the information I was looking for, so I think I’m finished researching. Check out Episode 4 to see how I use all of this information to write my research paper. Thanks for watching!
