October Curiosity Quest
How Do Animals Find Their Way in the Dark?
When the sun goes down in DFW, a whole second shift wakes up. Bats zip after moths, owls hunt by sound, and some moths can hear a bat coming. This month, play the Echo Lab, flip the Super Senses cards, and head out to a night field site to find out how these animals do it.
Mission 1
Make a Guess
Before you learn anything, take a guess. How do you think animals find food in the dark?
Mission 2
The Echo Lab
You're a bat, and it's too dark to see. Five moths are hiding somewhere in the night sky. Tap the sky to send out a call in that direction. When your call hits a moth, the echo bounces back and the moth lights up. Can you find all five using as few calls as possible?
Echoes will show up here.
What's really going on?
This is called echolocation. Bats send out calls, usually too high-pitched for people to hear, and listen for the echoes. The longer an echo takes to come back, the farther away the object is. Turn on Scientist Mode to see the real math: sound travels about 343 meters per second, so a moth 10 meters away sends an echo back in about 58 thousandths of a second.
Mission 3
Super Senses Cards
Tap each card to flip it. Flip all four to complete the mission.
Mission 4
Choose Your Night Field Site
DFW is the classroom. Pick one, go explore, then tap "We went!"
Mon, Oct 19 · Lucas
Blackland Prairie Raptor Center: Echoes in the Dark
A homeschool day all about owls, bats, and nighttime wildlife, with investigations and live animal encounters. 9 AM–1 PM, $12 ages 3+.
- Look closely at an owl's face shape.
- Ask how a bat's calls compare to an owl's hearing.
Mon, Oct 19 · Dallas
Dallas Arboretum: Survival in the Dark
A homeschool class on how nocturnal and deep-sea animals use their senses, and even make their own light. 10 AM, 11:15 AM, 1 PM, or 2 PM. Registration required.
- Compare night animals on land and in the deep sea.
- Find one adaptation you didn't know about.
Sat, Oct 17 · Glen Rose
Dinosaur Valley: Insect Extravaganza
Look for nocturnal insects under UV light and share what you find on iNaturalist. 8:30–10:30 PM, free with park admission.
- Count how many kinds of moths you see.
- Notice which insects come to the light and which stay away.
Any night · Free
Your Own Backyard at Dusk
Sit outside for 20 minutes right after sunset, especially during Bat Week (Oct 24–31). Bring the printable field journal below.
- Watch near streetlights for bats swooping after insects.
- List every sound you hear once it gets dark.
Mission 5
Choose Your Challenge
Siblings can work on the same mystery at their own level. Check off every task in one level to complete the mission.
Think about it: Would you rather have owl ears or bat sonar? Why?
Think about it: Why would a moth that can hear be more likely to survive?
Think about it: What else have humans invented that works like an animal's sense?
Mission 6
Kitchen-Table Lab: The Echo Calculator
Why don't you hear an echo when you clap in your living room? Slide to change how far away the wall is. Your brain needs about a tenth of a second between sounds to hear them separately.
Try it: The Paper Towel Tube Echo
You'll need two paper towel tubes and something that ticks, like a kitchen timer or a metronome app. Lay the tubes on the table in a V shape, both pointing at a wall. Hold the ticker at the end of one tube and listen at the end of the other. Wiggle the tubes until the ticking sounds loudest. That's sound bouncing off the wall and back to you, just like a bat's call bouncing off a moth.
Bonus: Hard Room, Soft Room
Clap in the bathroom, then in a bedroom piled with pillows and blankets. Which room bounces the sound back, and which one soaks it up? Some moths have fuzzy scales on their wings that soak up bat calls, kind of like built-in sound camouflage.
Keep the Curiosity Going
Free Resources
Bat Week, Oct 24–31
Activities, coloring pages, and simple ways families can help bats.
ReadBat Conservation International
Learn about bat species, echolocation, and why bats matter.
ListenMerlin Bird ID App
Free app from Cornell. Use Sound ID at dusk to name the owls and birds you hear.
ShareiNaturalist
Snap photos of moths and night insects and help real scientists learn what lives in DFW.
Finish all six missions
Earn Your Night Explorer Badge
Type your explorer's name to print a certificate. Printing a field journal for your night outing works anytime.
One question. Endless learning.
There's no single right way to do this Curiosity Quest. Follow the questions your kids get excited about and let DFW become part of your curriculum.