Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Join the National Lightning Bug Research Project

Karen left a comment about my lightning bug blog. "Professionally, I was a chemistry teacher for many years, and continued to find the topic of light-releasing biochemical reactions interesting."

You might be interested to know that The National Children's Museum has teamed up with the Museum of Science in Boston on a project to get children involved in observing fireflies in their areas and submitting data to a national research program. Their website is www.readysetglow.org where you can sign up for the project.

In addition to a charming & appropriate name, the website is fun and creative for kids and parents. As an example, they have some cute but corny jokes about fireflies, such as "Q: Why was the firefly mother so unhappy? A: Because her children weren’t very bright." They make learning a great adventure.

Surprisingly, not a lot of research has been done on the subject of lightning bugs. With luck and lots of volunteers, that may change over the next few years. So if you live in an area of the country that has fireflies, consider getting your kids involved on this quirky project. And you can still save them in a glass jar for a little while. The bugs, that is, not the kids! lol - have fun.

2 comments:

Karen said...

The readysetglow.org site is excellent. I'm tempted to try one of their suggested experiments myself! This is a fantastic topic for a reflective story and for a new project for generations to share.

Beth (Elizabeth) LaMie said...

Karen,
I thought it was a terrific website as well. Children are always so excited about lightning bugs and it is a thrill to find a site that has invested in technology that promotes them and encourages participation.