Ping and Echo: Firefly
Decoding the flash
Welcome to Ping and Echo, a daily newsletter that shares one amazing podcast episode guaranteed to be a great listen for kids and their families. Each newsletter includes links to articles, videos, and activities related to the podcast so you can turn every episode into an adventure.
Today’s episode is from Tumble, a great science podcast for kids. In this episode the Tumble team talks to firefly specialist Sara Lewis who walks through a number of amazing facts about fireflies and their flashing. You’ll learn about why each species has a different flash, and how their flashing helps them. There is a lot more to this story and the science behind it, so we’ve included a bunch of additional links below and some wonderful crafts for various ages.
Podcast: Tumble
Episode: The Code of the Flashing Firefly
Length: 13 minutes
🧐 You Should Know
I’ll always give you a heads up if there is anything in the podcast that might surprise or worry kids. Nothing to worry about here.
💡 Try This
After you listen to the episode you can create some firefly flashes of your own with the links and activities below:
Two ways to make firefly jars: version one, version two
🔎 Explore More
Read up on science behind this episode with these links:
The Firefly Firework Lottery - Radiolab
Video: Learn To Speak The Language Of Fireflies - Science Friday
The name Ping and Echo comes from sonar technology which relies on sending out “pings” and receiving back “echos” to discover the world around you. You can send us pictures of the art and activities created by your kids. Email them to pingandecho@gmail.com and we’ll post all your echos on our Instagram and our Twitter page.
Thanks for lending us your ears and your inbox.
Josh, Ruby, and Toby