Firefly photo author Bruce Marlin

Fireflies are winged beetles!

Research Questions…

How do fireflies light up and why?

What do fireflies eat?

What is a the life cycle of a firefly?

Why are fireflies endangered and what can you do to help?

What other animals are bioluminescent?

Learn more…

Firefly.org – Find out why fireflies are disappearing and what you can do to help. Take a few minutes to find out some facts about fireflies and take a look around to see what other interesting things the site has to offer.

Why? Tell Me Why?: Fireflies – VIDEO: After a brief commercial, learn why fireflies light up!

About: Insects: Life Cycle of Fireflies and Lightning bugs – Site offers more detailed information about the life cycle of a firefly stage by stage.

Lights Alive! – Information about bioluminescent animals

Bioluminescence Studies – Learn more about bioluminescent organisms

Back Yard Nature: Lightning Bugs – Find out: why fireflies light up, what they eat and the classification.

Everything About: Fireflies – Find out how a firefly is able to light up.

Enchanted Learning: Firefly/Lightning Bug – Site offers a very brief description about the insect and a labeled diagram of a firefly. Printable.

How Stuff Works: Fireflies – Find out how fireflies glow, why they glow, where they can be found, how many types there are and what the flashes mean.

National Geographic: Fireflies – Find out where fireflies live and how their young are born and survive.

Wikipedia: Fireflies – Site offers scientific classification, general overview of animal, biology info: what they look like, life cycle, hibernation cycle and light and chemical production.

Fran’s World of Discovery: Glowworms – Get information about about another bioluminescent insect.

Steve Spangler Science: Liquid Light Experiment – 
To do the experiment you will need: 2 glasses of water – 1 with ice, the other with hot water and 3 glowsticks. Watch this video to see how the experiment is done. Look for more Light Experiments on this site.

Crayola: Follow the Firefly Lesson Plan – Create a book about fireflies. Site also offers a 3-D Firefly Craft idea.

How Stuff Works: Firefly Activity – Offers an experiment to see how often a firefly lights up. Remember to release them as soon as the experiment is over.

Living With Insects: Firefly Jokes – Site offers 5 firefly jokes.

Apartmenttherapy: DIY Fireflies That Really Light Up – Cute firefly craft that repurposes plastic eggs.

Create your own book or lapbook with the information you collect.