Fireflies for Educators

Do you call them “fireflies” or “lightning bugs?”

Whether you call the glowing beetles with flashes “fireflies” or “lightning bugs” can depend on where you grew up. Southerners tend to use the term “lightning bugs” while those growing up in the north use “fireflies.”  Use this poll to ask your class their preferred terminology and graph the results!

Incorporate Fireflies into your Language Arts Curriculum

Books Used by Educators

• The Very Lonely Firefly by Eric Carle (preschool through early elementary)
• Glow: Animals with Their Own Night Lights by W.H. Beck (early elementary)
• Light the Sky, Firefly by Sheri Mabry Bestor (6-9 years)
• Fireflies in the Night by Judy Hawks and Ellen Alexander (4-8 years)
• Fireflies by Julie Brinklove (6-7 years)
• Fireflies Book: Fun Facts about the Fireflies You Loved as a Kid by Brett Ortler (upper elementary – middle school)

Writing About Fireflies

Use this firefly prompt for writing assignments:

Cultures all over the world and throughout time have recognized the uniqueness of fireflies. Two thousand year old Chinese writings describe the insects as “night travelers with bellies of fire.” Navaho tradition relates fireflies to First Women’s desire to bring fire and light to her people. In Japan, they were thought of as the departed souls of warriors.

Imagine that you had never seen a firefly. You are hiking at dusk on a trail in the North Georgia Mountains. You round a corner in the trail and suddenly there are hundreds of lights flashing – your first encounter with fireflies. What would you think? How would you feel? Write a short story or poem about the experience.

Print Writing Assignment

Designing a Firefly Habitat

Download information on adding firefly habitat to your school garden.

Designing Firefly Habitat (PDF)

Links, Interviews and Podcasts:

• Becky Griffin’s interview with Lynn Faust about her career as a firefly entomologist and advocate.
• Xerces Information on Firefly Conservation.
• Firefly Coloring Sheet 1 – Lifecycle of the Big Dipper
• Firefly Coloring Sheet 2 – Firefly color by numbers
• Information sheet on Big Dipper Firefly (Photinus pyralis)
• National Geographic’s 3 minute audio on The Dark Side to the Firefly’s Flashes.  This discusses how some females from the Photuris firefly family lure males for food.
• Scientific American’s 11 Cool Things You Never Knew about Fireflies.
• National Geographic’s 1 minute film on The Science of Summer – Fireflies.
• Atlanta Firefly Project. 
• Ecoreach’s University of Georgia’s Ecology website.