Science experiments for children – Fruit fly traps. To observe the life of fruit flies just get a slice of apple, a funnel, ordinary paper and cooking paper, a jar and a rubber band.
Science experiments for children – Fruit fly traps
What to do?
Just put a slice of apple in the jar, then place the funnel upside down, and leave outdoors for a few hours.
photo credit: http://www.billnye.com/
When we have collected about ten fruit flies, we remove the funnel, we insert the jar a piece of paper and then close the jar with a piece of paper towel, securing it with a rubber band.
Now we can observe the life of our fruit flies.
The observation will last for about three weeks. Meanwhile we note that they are not all equal: the males for example are smaller than the females.
If we were lucky enough to have picked up both male and female, we can assist their reproduction: egg laying, hatching, larvae and pupae. The sheet of paper in the jar serves the larvae to move, before pupation.
The fruit flies are ideal for this kind of observation because they reproduce very quickly.
Science experiments for children – Fruit fly traps
Other links
http://www.theidearoom.net/2009/09/fruit-fly-trap.html
http://www.education.com/science-fair/article/drosophila-metamorphosis/
http://www.instructables.com/id/Easy-Fruit-Fly-Trap/
