TMCnet News
Museum explores 'secret lives'PITTSFIELD, Apr 23, 2010 (The Berkshire Eagle - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Fireflies are not flies. They're not bugs. They're beetles. Those beloved light-blinking insects were the topic of an Earth Day program at the Berkshire Museum on Wednesday called "The Secret Lives of Fireflies." And some people say their populations are on the decline. Second-graders from Sinai Academy of the Berkshires, which is in session this week, made the field trip to the museum to learn more. Don Salvatore, a science educator from the Boston Museum of Science, leads a program there called Firefly Watch, a citizen participation program to study the habitats, habits and populations of fireflies. "Do you like fireflies?" Salvatore asked Sinai student Stella Kimball-Dembitzer. "I like them very much," she said. "Me too," said Salvatore. "People come up to me all the time and say, 'There aren't as many fireflies around as when I was a kid.' Is that true? Is it pesticides? Is it something else? We don't know. But that's what were trying to find out. People love fireflies. They don't want to see them disappear." Firefly Watch, which is about to enter its third summer, is a relatively simple data collection program called the Firefly Watch Citizen Science Project. Between the months of May and August, people are asked to commit to going into their backyards once a week to count the number of fireflies they see in a 10-second period. Participants then go online and enter their firefly count into the Firefly Watch database, and answer questions about the habitat the fireflies were counted in. Scientists with Firefly Watch will then analyze the data to see if there is any correlation between the number of fireflies and the types of environments they live in. This summer, Berkshire Museum natural science coordinator Scott LaGreca will be taking volunteers on guided firefly walks to collect data. In June, LaGreca and other area naturalists and scientists will lead a two-day BioBlitz, which will include multiple interactive nature activities, including firefly observation in Pittsfield State Forest. LaGreca said programs like these can help people with what has been termed as "nature deficit disorder" -- a person's lack of relationship to the environment. "It's true that there are not as many kids going outside anymore," he said. "But parents can take time and get children to learn to use all their senses, and get immersed in what's around them. Here we are really blessed with nature. The Berkshires provides a great backdrop for many cultural events, but I hope [nature] gets to take center stage more often." To join Firefly Watch, visit www.mos.org/fireflywatch. To learn more about BioBlitz, call (413) 443-7171, ext. 17, or visit www.berkshiremuseum.org. To learn more about backyard exploration programs, visit www.backyardbiology.net. To see more of The Berkshire Eagle or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.berkshireeagle.com. Copyright (c) 2010, The Berkshire Eagle, Pittsfield, Mass. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |