What Do You See Through Your Eye, Mr. Fly?

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio:

Flies may seem like a nuisance when they are buzzing around you or landing on your food, but this creature has a purpose too!

In this lesson, you will learn new facts about flies.

• Do you have flies where you live?
• What do you know about them?

Make a list on a piece of paper of everything you already know about flies. You may also name the different types of insects you have seen.

Then, watch this video to see if you can learn any new facts about flies. Pause the video to add three more facts to your paper.

Discuss with someone what you learned in the video. You may include these questions in your discussion.

• Do you remember what the four stages are in the life cycle of the fly?
• How do flies walk on the wall or ceiling?

Here are some more fun facts about flies.

• Flies are a part of the food chain. Many animals, like frogs, birds, and snakes, find flies a tasty treat.

• Did you know that many flying insects have four wings?

This is not true for a fly. A fly has only two wings. The two wings on the fly help it fly forward, backward, up and down, and even side-to-side!

Look closely at the picture of the fly above. You can count the two wings.

Now, look at the feet. The feet of the fly are hairy and sticky. This helps the fly walk on any surface — even your ceiling!

Flies can eat nectar (nectar is a sugary liquid made in flowers), blood, manure, and even the foods you eat! When a fly lands on its food it vomits (or throws up). This helps to break the food down for the fly to eat.

Flies do not have teeth. They have a long thick tongue called a proboscis. This is used to suck food like a straw.

Now that you have learned many facts about flies, say out loud one new thing you learned and one thing you would like to learn more about.

Move on to the Got It? section to learn about the parts of a fly's body.