Summer Homeschool: Fireflies and Lightning Bugs

Fireflies & Their Wonder

Have you ever wondered what makes fireflies glow? Learn about the chemical changes that control the bioluminescent feature of these fascinating beetles with Wonderopolis. You can also find out how studies of this phenomenon in the natural world can influence the fields of medicine, forensic science, and more.

Why do some people say “firefly” and some people say “lightning bug?” This article from Business Insider shares a regional map of the linguistic differences, and an interesting theory of why the split occurred.

If you plan to catch lightning bugs to be able to study them up close, check out these tips and guidelines for how to safely catch them. Catch fireflies carefully, treat them gently, and release them into the wild again when you’re done, and you’ll be able to enjoy these fascinating creatures without causing any harm.

Synchronous fireflies refer to the rarer species of fireflies which can coordinate their flashes with each other. This blog post from Triponzy shares the fifteen best places in the world to see synchronous fireflies, and–wouldn’t you know it!–the top three places are in some of Virginia’s neighboring states–Tennessee, Pennsylvania, and the Carolinas. Whether you put one of these places on your wish list for a visit, or use them as inspiration to look up more information and videos, this is a fun list to peruse! Also, check out this article about the rare blue ghost fireflies in North Carolina.

Looking for more summer homeschool ideas? Check out these five things to do in your summer homeschool for some fun learning activities to help make this homeschool summer your best yet!