Hobbies And Interests
Where to Find Venus Fly Traps
Venus fly traps live in a very specific climate --- in boggy areas along the coasts of North and South Carolina. Even if you live near an area where they grow naturally, you should avoid taking them from the wild, as they have been over-harvested and are now endangered. Instead, contact local greenhouses to see if they have any in stock. You may also procure adult Venus fly traps through online sales and auction sites. Many greenhouse kits are also available at specialty toy stores, which contain seeds from which you can grow your own carnivorous plant collection. However, Venus fly traps take four to five years to mature, and will not typically grow large enough in a single school year to eat insects, so incorporating this fascinating behavior into your science project requires that you start with an adult.
Environment and Care
Simulate your Venus fly trap's natural environment by keeping it humid. For single plants, a small vase or goldfish bowl will suffice. Be sure to place a transparent cover over the top to retain moisture and let sunlight in. Also be sure that your cover provides some small openings to allow air to circulate. The roots should always be kept wet; you should use a poor, acidic soil. If you live near the fly trap's natural habitat, you can use soil from outside. Otherwise, use pure peat moss or an equal mix of peat and perlite. You can buy peat moss at nurseries, gardening stores and some pet supply stores, but be sure to avoid brands that contain fertilizer, as this will burn the fly trap's roots and kill it.
Feeding
Feed your Venus fly trap live insects for the best results. Pre-killed insects, such as crickets or meal worms that have been freeze dried, can work but the trap will not fully close unless the insect inside is moving. If you use dead food, use a toothpick or other small device to move the food around after the trap has partially closed. Do not feed the fly trap hamburger, as it may rot and damage the plant before it has been digested.
If you leave your fly trap outside during warmer months, it will catch all of the insects it needs. Otherwise, drop an appropriate number of insects into its home when the traps are open. Do not trick your fly trap into closing by poking its trigger hairs, as this process requires a large energy expenditure on the plant's part. If there is no food within the leaves to replenish that spent energy, the plant's growth potential will be diminished over the course of its lifetime. Provide plenty of water for your fly trap. If you keep it outside, it can become submerged by rain without harm, as these plants can live underwater for months in their natural habitat.
Science Projects
Venus fly traps are curious and impressive enough on their own. A simple live demonstration of the way in which they capture insects can be enough to wow many students or spectators at the science fair. For added value, position your fly traps prominently within a large display containing facts about the plant and its environment. Short, explanatory paragraphs about the way the trap is triggered and the digestive process may also accompany your display.
Make a short presentation, such as a video or slideshow, tracing the probable evolution of the modern Venus fly trap as it adapted to thrive in the nutrient-deprived soil of its natural environment. If multimedia equipment is unavailable, you can use printed materials instead.
If your science project requires a comparison between a control and variable, consider planting multiple fly traps in different soil mixtures and measuring their progress throughout the year. You may also experiment to find the ideal food for the Venus fly trap by carefully controlling what types of insects are fed to multiple plants over time, and observing the results. Simply recreating the fly trap's natural environment outside of the bogs where it grows wild can be a science project as well, in which young students learn about the many factors which influence an organism's biological success in the wild.