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Carnivorous Plants: The Venus Fly Trap and Others
When I taught an after-school garden club for elementary students, I tried to find topics that would use the science of awe to engage the students. Shortly into my thirteen-year tenure leading the club, I found a carnivorous plant at a local nursery. What a perfect topic, I thought to myself! So, I learned about this group of plants first, reading everything I could from reputable sources. Soon a unit came together that I used to teach my young students (aged 7–12). Virtually, every year after or for the next ten years, I taught a carnivorous plant unit. It’s no surprise the topic fascinated the students and was requested year after year.
We learned about venus fly traps, pitcher plants, bladderworts, and sundews, delving into the specifics of each plant. Are you surprised that there are plants beside the Venus Fly Trap that have evolved to catch their food? It is a cool subject, indeed!
Venus Flytrap
There are only one species of venus fly trap or Dionaea muscipula if you want to know the scientific name. They live natively in the marshy wetlands of the North Carolina and South Carolina Coasts in the United States. As you can imagine the nutrients quickly drain away from the sandy soil in the marsh. These plants evolved to survive that marshy environment by attracting and capturing prey (flies and…
