Format
1. Introductions to the Museum Educator and our Science Exploration Zone
2. We will have a group brainstorm to determine what we already know about fireflies.
3. Next, we will discuss how fireflies are insects and determine what characteristics an insect has.
4. After that, we will use a digital microscope to look at different structures on a firefly body.
5. Next, we will investigate a firefly’s life cycle by making a glowworm craft.
6. We will observe differences in firefly flash patterns and discuss how and why fireflies light up (bioluminescence).
Objectives
Participants will:
- identify the structures of a firefly and learn how fireflies are classified
- model the life cycle of a firefly
- compare flash patterns of different firefly species
- learn about Entomology and thinking like an Entomologist
Standards Alignment
National Standards
3-LS1-1 Develop models to describe that organisms have unique and diverse life cycles but all have in common birth, growth, reproduction, and death.
4-LS1-1 Construct an argument that plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction.
State Standards
Nebraska College and Career Ready Standards for Science:
SC.3.9.3.A Develop models to describe that organisms have unique and diverse life cycles but all have in common birth, growth, reproduction, and death.)
SC.4.6.3.B Construct an argument that plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction.