Home >> Hobbies >> Other Hobbies

How to Make LED Fireflies

Fireflies communicate through lighting their bodies in a type of call and response pattern between males and females. You can emulate this type of lighting with some light emitting diodes (LEDs), resistors and a few other parts by regulating the flow of energy to the LEDs and controlling the frequency and intensity of their lighting. Once you have completed the project, you can get creative and try using different colored lights in different settings, such as jars, shrubs or dioramas.

Things You'll Need

4 AA batteries
1 battery holder
5 LEDs
5 feet of 24-gauge red wire
5 feet of 24-gauge black wire
5 resistors varying from 5 ohms to 100 ohms
1 on/off switch
Soldering iron
Solder

Instructions

- 1
  Place the four AA batteries in the battery holder.
- 2
  Connect a section of red wire from the positive terminal of the battery pack to a terminal on the on/off switch. Depending on the type of battery pack and on/off switch you are using, the connection method may differ, but will be clear just by looking at it. Solder the connection by melting a bead of solder with a the hot tip of the soldering iron at the connection, which keeps the completed circuit in place.
- 3
  Run a section of red wire from another terminal of the on/off switch to a resistor. Either end of the resistor will work for this project. Solder the connection as before.
- 4
  Extend a section of red wire from the resistor to the positive terminal of the LED. The positive terminal of an LED will always be the longer of the LED's two terminals. Solder this connection, too.
- 5
  Connect a section of black wire from the negative terminal of the LED to the negative terminal of the next LED. Solder the connection.
- 6
  Use a section of red wire to join the positive terminal of the LED to another resistor. Note that resistors will only be connected to red wires. Solder the connection.
- 7
  Couple a section of red wire from the resister to the positive terminal of the next LED as you did in step 4. Solder the connection. This chaining of LEDs together is a repetitive, but necessary process that helps to complete the circuit, allowing all of the LEDs to function properly.
- 8
  Repeat steps five through seven until you have connected all the LEDs and resistors.
- 9
  Run the final section of black wire to the negative terminal of the battery back and solder the connection as you did with the positive terminal in step 2. This step completes the circuit.
- 10
  Turn on the on/off switch to activate.

Other Hobbies