How Do Fireflies Light Up and Which Creatures Glow in the Dark?
Nat Theo Nature Lessons Rooted in the Bible
Eryn Lynum
4.8 • 618 Ratings
🗓️ 5 September 2023
⏱️ 22 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Have you ever seen fireflies glowing throughout a forest or field? God created a whole host of creatures that glow in the dark! Today we're exploring:
- What is bioluminescence?
- What creatures glow in the dark?
- How do fireflies light up?
- How do we shine God’s light?
Episode Links:
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Join the Nat Theo Club & Get Full Episode Activity Guides!
Download the free Glow-in-the-Dark Creatures Coloring Page to go along with this lesson
Get Eryn's new book, Rooted in Wonder: Nurturing Your Family's Faith Through God's Creation
Scriptures in Today's Episode:
“It is by faith we understand that the whole world was made by God’s command so what we see was made by something that cannot be seen.” Hebrews 11:3
“God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all.” 1 John 1:5
“God once said, ‘Let the light shine out of the darkness!’ This is the same God who made his light shine in our hearts by letting us know the glory of God that is in the face of Christ.” 2 Corinthians 4:6
“You are the light that gives light to the world… And people don’t hide a light under a bowl. They put it on a lampstand so the light shines for all the people in the house. In the same way, you should be a light for other people. Live so that they will see the good things you do and will praise your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:14-16
“I am the light of the world. The person who follows me will never live in darkness but will have the light that gives life.” John 8:12
Terms Learned in Today's Episode:
bārā’ (baw-raw): Hebrew word for God’s special creativity
Bioluminescence: light that comes from living creatures
Photobacterium: Bacteria (tiny creatures) that produce living light
Twilight Zone: 650 - 3,300 feet deep in the ocean where sunlight doesn’t reach
Luciferin: Molecule used in bioluminescence
Luciferase: Enzyme that breaks down the Luciferin molecule to create living light
Lampyridae: Family or category of beetles, most which emit living light (Bioluminescence)
Glowworm: Larva (juvenile) form of fireflies
Thank you to the Institute for Creation Research (ICR) for their very helpful podcast episode on Living Light, which we used in researching for today's lesson! https://youtu.be/_nENsJLm2E8?si=RFvzjuCRp0V2tuFc
Discover more nature lessons rooted in the Bible at Erynlynum.com
Mentioned in this episode:
Magnify: A Wild & Wonderful Summer Adventure by Nat Theo
Join us for summer Bible & nature study! https://thenaturaltheologyproject.com/magnify
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Have you downloaded the free coloring sheet for this lesson? |
| 0:04.0 | Click the link in our show notes to print and color along as you listen. |
| 0:08.1 | And join the Nat Theo Club at the link in our show notes to receive a full lesson and activity guide and a bonus video of content every single week. |
| 0:17.0 | So you can dive deeper into every lesson. |
| 0:20.0 | Explore God's wild and wonderful world in the Nat Theo Club at Aaron Linum.com |
| 0:25.2 | slash club or at the link in our show notes. |
| 0:31.8 | Welcome to the Nat Theo podcast, where we explore nature, the Bible, and what both of them show us about |
| 0:42.4 | our creator, God, who made this wild and wonderful world. I'm your host, Aaron Linum. I'm a certified |
| 0:52.7 | master naturalist, Bible teacher, and author. And I am so |
| 0:57.8 | excited to explore God's word and his created world with you. Hi, listeners. Today we will be diving |
| 1:08.6 | into the dark to shed some light on glowing creatures. You can download |
| 1:14.7 | and print a full episode activity guide for today's lesson, including a coloring page, |
| 1:21.7 | poster, word search puzzle, and more fun, Firefly facts that we won't have time to cover on today's show. That guide is |
| 1:31.1 | available for Nat Theo Club members and you can learn more and join at aaron linem.com slash |
| 1:37.6 | Nat Theo or at the link in today's show notes. You can also download and print a free coloring page |
| 1:45.5 | to go along with today's episode, |
| 1:47.4 | including some of the fun glow in the dark creatures |
| 1:50.3 | we're going to learn about. |
| 1:52.1 | Download and print that at my website |
| 1:54.3 | at the link in today's show notes or aaronlineum.com |
| 1:57.7 | slash Nat Theo 13. Before we dive into the world of glow in the dark creatures, I have a |
| 2:05.7 | question for you. If you want to make a beautiful picture of a waterfall, what supplies might you |
... |
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