Living Lights: Spotting Bioluminescent Fireflies
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This worksheet is one of two career activity worksheets on bioluminescence. Designed to be printed as a front-and-back handout and written for upper elementary students, the worksheet explains bioluminescence in simple terms. Then learn more about fireflies and their use of bioluminescence.
On the second page, students learn about entomologists and can try two activities to help them think about fireflies and other insects. We've also included some easy steps you can take to help fireflies in your yard and community.
(See the Related Content tab or click here for the other bioluminescence handout.)
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Standards addressed in this Activity:
The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) are a set of K-12 science education standards emphasizing inquiry-based learning, real-world applications, and integrating engineering practices, aiming to deepen understanding of science while promoting critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
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3-LS4-2
Use evidence to construct an explanation for how the variations in characteristics among individuals of the same species may provide advantages in surviving, finding mates, and reproducing.
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4-LS1-1
Construct an argument that plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction.
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ESS3.C-E1
Human activities in agriculture, industry, and everyday life have had major effects on the land, vegetation, streams, ocean, air, and even outer space. But individuals and communities are doing things to help protect Earth’s resources and environments.
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LS1.A-E1
Plants and animals have both internal and external structures that serve various functions in growth, survival, behavior, and reproduction.
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LS1.B-E1
Reproduction is essential to the continued existence of every kind of organism. Plants and animals have unique and diverse life cycles.
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LS2.C-E1
When the environment changes in ways that affect a place’s physical characteristics, temperature, or availability of resources, some organisms survive and reproduce, others move to new locations, yet others move into the transformed environment, and some die.
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LS4.D-E1
Populations live in a variety of habitats, and change in those habitats affects the organisms living there.
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PS1.B-E1
When two or more different substances are mixed, a new substance with different properties may be formed.
The Common Core Standards are educational benchmarks in the United States that outline clear expectations for what students should know and be able to do in English language arts and mathematics from kindergarten through 12th grade, aiming to ensure consistency and coherence in education nationwide.
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Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
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By the end of year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, in the grades 4–5 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.
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Determine the main idea of a text and explain how it is supported by key details; summarize the text.
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Explain events, procedures, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text, including what happened and why, based on specific information in the text.
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Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words or phrases in a text relevant to a grade 4 topic or subject area.
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Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
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By the end of the year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, at the high end of the grades 4–5 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
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Determine two or more main ideas of a text and explain how they are supported by key details; summarize the text.
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Explain the relationships or interactions between two or more individuals, events, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text based on specific information in the text.
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Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 5 topic or subject area.
Social Studies Standards are educational guidelines outlining the essential knowledge, skills, and concepts students should learn in subjects such as history, geography, civics, and economics, aiming to provide a comprehensive understanding of societal structures, historical events, and global perspectives.
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People, Places, and Environments
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