This activity guides the analysis of a published scientific figure from a study that tested how bats use echolocation to adjust their hunting behavior.

During echolocation, bats emit ultrasonic sound waves and analyze the returning echoes. After a bat detects prey, it emits a rapid sequence of echolocation signals called the buzz phase. In this study, scientists observed bats hunting to determine the role of the buzz phase in capturing prey. The figure shows the bats’ behaviors as spectrograms (graphs of their echolocation signals) and video snapshots in two panels: one with the bat successfully capturing prey (Panel A), and one with the bat chasing prey that is then removed by the scientists (Panel D).

The “Educator Materials” document includes a captioned figure, background information, graph interpretation, and discussion questions. The “Student Handout” includes a captioned figure and background information.