Light
up your curriculum with Fireflies!
August’s curriculum share is Firefly Watch, a free online
program that can be used as a full unit or in sections used for
mini-lessons. Firefly Watch integrates well with various disciplines and skills
used by real scientists. It is an
on-going research project so it is relevant to the real world. The more I
looked into this program, the more connections I could imagine.
Firefly Watch is
an excellent way to segue from summer break into the school year. As children
we chased and caught fireflies, put them in jars and watched them blink neon
green or yellow lights. This summer
seemed to have more lightning bugs than ever before. For students that did not
see fireflies in their area, this is an opportunity to demonstrate why no data
is also important data.
Firefly Watch was
created as a collaboration between Boston’s Museum of Science and scientists
from Tufts University and Fitchburg State College to track fireflies. The
program adapts to a broad range of grade and ability levels. Firefly
Watch introduces students to the Scientific
Method as well as employs science skills of map reading, data collection and interpretation. Again, this could
be presented in as few as one to two classes or become a full unit.
To get started and look at the program, go to Firefly Watch . The website consists of
various tabs and menus. Students can
choose to learn about fireflies, get tips for using a journal, view an
interactive habitat, analyze and interpret the online maps, download and
complete observation sheets, and write to share their findings. Science content
ranges from ecosystems, environmental factors, physical and behavioral
adaptations, and heredity. I have
provided additional resources for all grades on the sqworl link Firefly Watch
Firefly Watch https://www.mos.org/fireflywatch
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