(Reagan) Congaree National Park is very beautiful.

(Jayden) And it has a very unique firefly because they can blink their lights at the same time.

(Kyra) In elementary school, that's like the last time I saw a firefly.

(Reagan) Where they at now?

I'm excited to see a firefly.

Ooh.

(Jayden) That is so cool.

(cheerful music) - Major funding for "Sci Girls" is provided by the National Science Foundation.

Supporting education and research across all fields of science and engineering.

The National Science Foundation, where discoveries begin.

Additional funding is provided by the PPG Foundation which aims to bring color and brightness to communities around the world.

(girls) ♪ S-C-I-G-I-R-L-S (Izzie) We need you!

(girls) ♪ S-C-I-G-I-R-L-S ♪ (Izzie) Come on!

(girls) ♪ When I need help and I've got a question ♪ ♪ There's a place I go for inspiration ♪ ♪ Got to get to the web, check the girls' investigation ♪ ♪ What girls?

♪ ♪ SciGirls!

Whoo!

(girls) ♪ S-C-I-G-I-R-L-S (Izzie) I need you!

(girls) ♪ S-C-I-G-I-R-L-S Come on!

♪ You've got to log on, post ♪ ♪ Upload, pitch in Yeah!

♪ Want to get inside a world that's fascinating?

♪ ♪ The time is right 'cause SciGirls are waiting ♪ (girls) ♪ S-C-I-G-I-R-L-S (Izzie) We need you!

(girls) ♪ S-C-I-G-I-R-L-S ♪ (Izzie) SciGirls!

Jake!

Jake!

(Jake) Got you, Izzie.

You're it for flashlight tag.

(Izzie) Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Let's freeze the game for now.

Because Bakersfield Middle School has asked us to perform the opening act for their science assembly.

(Jake) Whoo-hoo!

(Izzie) Yeah, so we got to come up with an act.

(Jake) We could beatbox.

(beatboxes) (Izzie laughs) Or yodel.

(yodels) (Jake) Or we could make cheesy poof art.

(Izzie) Wow, look at them go.

The fireflies.

(Jake) Awesome.

(Izzie) Well, whatever we decide, we need to be able to do it in sync.

You know, in unison.

Totally together.

(gasps) Hey!

(both) Let's dance.

(Jake) I bet the SciGirls could help us with it.

(Izzie) Oh, yeah.

Spark-tastic idea, Jake.

SciGirls, we need you.

(Jake) Whoa.

I'll get it.

Whoa.

Ah, got it.

(Izzie) Hmm, okay.

Let's try this one.

(Jayden) Oh, he's awake.

Hello.

(upbeat music) ♪ ♪ Today I came with my friends to the Congaree National Park in South Carolina.

Congaree is known for its old growth forests, boardwalks, and swamps.

(bird cries) (Reagan) It's very vast and deep.

It's beautiful out here, and I really like it.

(Jayden) It's a very peaceful place, and it's nice to just walk around.

Oh, that one's falling.

(Reagan) They're falling in love.

(laughing) (Jayden) My name's Jayden, and I'm from South Carolina.

I like to do a lot of things.

I like to always be on the go.

Where you at, Reagan?

(Reagan) Nyoom!

(Jayden) My favorite STEM subject would probably be engineering.

I just like being able to figure things out.

(Kyra) Don't point it towards me.

Point it towards yourself.

My name's Kyra, and I'm from Lexington, South Carolina.

I can be really quiet and shy, also very, like, helpful and kind.

Y'all want to try to go to the bridge?

My favorite STEM subject has to be science.

Just learning different types of ecosystems and how cells work.

(Reagan) Oh, look at that.

A spider.

(Jayden) Hey, buddy.

(Reagan) I'm Reagan and I'm from West Columbia, South Carolina.

I like to draw, play video games, watch anime, and listen to music.

Listen to music is a big one.

What shall we name tree?

(Jayden) Ziggy.

(Reagan laughs) My favorite STEM subject is engineering.

So I'm able to build something, and I can make it come to life.

Jayden might actually be, like, a... (both) Squirrel.

(Reagan) See?

(Jayden) Walking around this morning was really fun.

We got to see a bunch of different trees and a bunch of different fun animals.

(Kyra) It was interesting 'cause there was different trails going around, like, the park.

(Reagan) And we started on the Firefly Trail, and we walked around.

(Jayden) We learned that Congaree has a very unique firefly called the Photuris Frontalis.

And that firefly is unique because it can synchronize its lights, meaning they can blink their lights at the same time.

(owl hoots) (Claudia) Hi, girls.

(all) Hi.

(Kyra) We met Claudia.

Claudia is a biologist and a park ranger at Congaree National Park.

(Claudia) How are you?

(all) Good.

(Jayden) We're trying to figure out a good place to see fireflies.

(Claudia) Cool, so this is actually a great place to see fireflies because we have the upland forest up there and then the flood plain is down there.

And this is the bottomland forest.

So the fireflies don't like to be where there's a lot of water, but they also don't like to be where it's really dry.

(Reagan) I've never seen a firefly in person.

I've seen them on TV.

I've seen them in movies.

In my area, there's too many lights.

(Kyra) So Claudia brought us back to the park, and she was giving information about fireflies.

(Claudia) Do you know that fireflies are actually not flies?

(Reagan) What?

(Claudia) Yeah, even though they have it in their names, they're beetles.

Do you know what they eat?

(Reagan) Not a clue.

(Claudia) So they're omnivores.

(Reagan) I'm surprised that small beetle, which I didn't know either-- fireflies are beetles-- is eating both meat and plants.

(Claudia) Do you have any questions about the fireflies?

(Jayden) What kind of fireflies are there?

(Claudia) There are different types of fireflies, but there are actually three types of fireflies around the United States that flash together at some point during the night.

(Jayden) Didn't know fireflies could do that.

(Claudia) Yeah, it's very interesting, and we have scientists that come and study them at the park.

And they're trying to figure out why is it that they synchronize.

And they're trying to figure out how many of them takes for them to start synchronizing at the same time.

Over all, the flashing that they do is because they are going through a mating ritual.

(Jayden) So the female fireflies will be laying on the ground and the male fireflies will be flying around blinking their lights.

(Reagan) So you were talking about synchronization.

What exactly is that?

(Claudia) So I actually have some things that I've been using to show people what synchronization is.

(Reagan) It's like a party whistle, and we had to blow in those to mimic the fireflies' synchronization at night.

(Claudia) I'm gonna start whistling, and then Jayden will try to follow me.

And then Kyra will try to follow me.

And Reagan will try to follow me.

All right, ready?

♪ ♪ (Reagan) That party blower was-- ooh.

(laughs) (Claudia) That's really hard, right?

Like, somebody always stop at some point.

(Jayden) The party blowing was really hard because of the laughing.

(Reagan laughs) I could barely do it because I was laughing the whole time.

(Claudia) I have another activity if you want to try.

(all) Sure.

(Claudia) All right, let's stand up.

(Jayden) And the second way, we tried to all clap at the same time.

(Claudia) Okay, ready?

(Jayden) Ready.

♪ (Claudia) Yay, you did it.

Good job.

Good job.

You guys heard how we were all at the same time clapping?

So that's how the fireflies do it.

They just start flashing at the same time with their neighbors.

Do you want to see more of the park?

(all) Yeah.

(Claudia) All right, do you want to see the creek?

(all) Sure.

(Claudia) All right, let's go.

So this type of creek is really interesting because you see there's a lot of debris.

So that's a good habitat for insects.

(Jayden) She said it was dark water because the leaves from the trees would fall in the water, and it would make it brown, like when you dip a tea bag into water.

(Claudia) Look at the knees.

(Jayden) There was this little, like, trees that were growing out of the ground.

They're called knees.

They usually just sprout out of, like, nowhere.

(Claudia) Yeah, they're actually when they were filming "Shrek," they came to sketch the flood plain here.

(Jayden) I thought it was really cool that the swamp here was modeled for the "Shrek" swamp.

(Reagan) Hello, my name is Reagan, and this is my house.

I live here with my mother, my father, and my little brother.

This is my dog.

His name is Parker.

He is loud.

(dog barks) He's my baby, and I love him.

Parker!

I've been drawing practically my whole life.

At first, I just got into drawing because I wanted to draw the anime characters that I love so much.

And it calms me.

It's very soothing.

I have taught myself and a bit of YouTube.

Yeah, I like to bake, and I made this brownie.

(voice) Mm-mm.

(dog barks) (Reagan) Goodbye.

(Jayden) So what else do you do here?

(Claudia) I help coordinate citizen science programs at the park.

(Reagan) Citizen science is when a scientist is researching something and they ask everyday citizens to help with the research.

(Jayden) Citizen science is very helpful to scientists because it helps them be able to cover more ground with their work.

So instead of just one person working on a study, it can be, like, hundreds of people working on a study.

(Claudia) And we have one right now at the park about observations of fireflies.

(Kyra) Can we do it?

(Claudia) Yeah, of course.

I can show you how to help.

(Kyra) In elementary school, that's like the last time I saw a firefly.

(Reagan) I'm excited to see a firefly.

I'm really excited.

(Claudia) Thank you so much for helping with the citizen science data collection.

So before I tell you more about that, first, let's learn about bioluminescence.

Bioluminescence is just a chemical reaction, and it makes light.

(Kyra) So bioluminescence is when an animal can create its own light.

(Claudia) I have a glow stick, and there's chemicals in here, and they react together, and so when I pop it, all the chemicals that are in this glow stick are emitting light.

One, two, three, go.

Yeah, awesome.

You just created light.

So in the fireflies, they have a transparent skeleton in their tails, and inside that transparent skeleton, they have light cells and reflectors.

And within those light cells, that's where the chemical reaction happens and where they produce the light.

(all) It's really cool.

(Claudia) So one of the citizen science that I'm overseeing is the fireflies observations.

We're collecting data to see how the fireflies change behavior over time.

(Jayden) So what do you do with the data?

(Claudia) We're trying to figure out at what time the fireflies change behavior and also, when do they start synchronizing.

(Jayden) There was a citizen science program where people would track the fireflies in five-minute intervals.

(Claudia) We're observing these seven behaviors, and we're doing it for five minutes.

And every minute, we take a measurement.

(Jayden) What else do we need to know?

(Claudia) So it's very important that when you're observing, anything that you're using for light, that it's covered with red.

The fireflies are disappearing in many places, so we want to make sure that their habitat is well-conditioned.

(Reagan) Red lights are better for the fireflies, so they don't get confused while they're trying to do their mating ritual.

(Claudia) Are you guys ready?

(all) Yes.

(Claudia) Go team.

(Jayden) Go team.

(soft music) ♪ So when we were collecting data on the fireflies, there were seven behaviors that we were looking for.

(Reagan) Oh, ooh.

That one was close.

We analyzed in five-minute periods how the fireflies reacted in each time period.

We were looking for seven different behaviors, from no flashing whatsoever to fully synchronization in large groups.

So we have practically nothing.

(Kyra) Well, we had, like, a few flashes.

I saw one.

One just flashed.

(Reagan) Well, you're the observer, observe.

(Kyra) Another one flashed.

(Reagan) Kyra was the observer.

I wanted to be the time keeper because I really wanted to keep up with the stop watch, and Jayden was writing down.

Where they at now?

(Kyra) They got shy.

Tired of y'all.

(Reagan) Already.

(Jayden) Two minutes.

(Reagan) Nothing.

(Kyra) Wait, wait, we have to get the weather conditions.

(Jayden) Clear and humid.

(Kyra) It was very, like, interesting, you know, sitting and just waiting for the fireflies once it got dark out.

At first, we didn't really get anything, but, like, when it got, you know, a little bit darker, we got, like, flashes, and then even more flashes, and then synchronization happened.

(Reagan) Soon, groups started synchronizing.

And then it was fully synchronizing in large groups, and it was beautiful.

(Jayden) That was really cool that the only thing you could see was the fireflies.

But it was so pretty, that was kind of the only thing you wanted to look at.

(Izzie) Okay, Jake, time to synchronize our movements.

Follow me.

Ribbit, ribbit.

(both) Ribbit, ribbit, ribbit, ribbit.

(Jake) Ribbit!

(groans) Chirp, chirp.

Fly!

(both) Chirp, chirp.

Fly!

(Izzie groans) I mean, fall.

(owl hoots) (gasps) Jake, look.

An owl.

(Jake) Listen.

(owl hoots) (both mimic owl) (upbeat electronic music) ♪ ♪ (Izzie) Come on.

Whoo.

Whoo.

High five.

(Jake) Uh-huh.

(Izzie) I think we're almost... (both) Ready!

(Claudia) Hi, girls.

(all) Hi.

(Claudia) How did it go last night?

(Reagan) It went well.

(Jayden) It went good.

(Reagan) So we met with Claudia to hand in our citizen science report.

(Claudia) So did you make any interesting observations?

(Jayden) We got to see, like, how they started flashing and when they started synchronizing.

I thought it was pretty cool.

(Claudia) At what time did you observe that they started synchronizing?

(Reagan) 9:00 p.m. (Claudia) 9:00 p.m.?

(Jayden) Around 9:00.

(Claudia) Cool.

So I'm gonna use this data, and I'm gonna compile it, put it together with the other volunteer data that I have.

And then I'll do a time series of it.

And that'll help us see when the fireflies were switching from one behavior to another, and then when it peaked at the park, so thank you so much for this.

(Jayden) Since me, Reagan, and Kyra completed the citizen science project, we are now citizen scientists.

(Reagan) Collecting data for the science community, it felt nice, and I enjoyed the experience.

(Claudia) So would you like to see the fireflies up close?

(all) Yeah.

(Claudia) So there's a scientist that has a permit to catch and release fireflies.

Her name is Orit.

(Reagan) Claudia said we were gonna meet Orit.

She studies fireflies.

(Orit) Hello.

(all) Hi.

(Jayden) Orit is from Colorado, and she's doing a study on fireflies and how they communicate.

(Orit) I'm from the computer science department at the University of Colorado Boulder and I come here especially to study the fireflies because of their communication system.

If I'm a firefly, and I sense all these light flashes around me, how do I integrate, sense that information, and make a decision when to flash next.

(Jayden) Is there any reason we can't catch the fireflies?

(Orit) Yeah, so because of climate change and light pollution, some of the firefly populations are really dwindling.

And it's best not to disturb them and catch them, so they have a better chance of survival.

(Kyra) We can't catch fireflies because it might harm them.

We have to have, like, a permit.

(Reagan) How long have you been studying fireflies?

(Orit) For about three years now.

And it's really the best part of the year.

I wait for these two weeks every year.

(Reagan) Why are fireflies only seen in that two weeks?

(Orit) They exist as flashing adults for about two weeks out of the year, and the rest of the year, they're either underground or under water in the vegetation.

And they will only emerge again in the next spring.

All right, let me show you how to safely catch a firefly.

So we have a bunch of nets here for you.

(Reagan) We need to catch them a certain way with the net, so to make sure we don't squash them accidentally after we catch them since their numbers are dwindling.

(Orit) Yes, perfect.

All right, looks great.

I think you're ready.

Now just have to wait until the sun sets and the fireflies come out.

(Reagan) I'm really excited for tonight, so we can see some fireflies.

(Jayden) I've never seen a firefly, like, up close.

I'm very excited about catching fireflies.

(Kyra laughs) (Reagan) Audacity.

(Kyra) Hey, guys, I'm gonna give you a tour of my room.

So this is my bed.

Some decorations.

Leaves.

A little chair I still have to organize, my desk.

And my dresser.

Currently, I'm packing my bag for dance.

All I need is just some water and some makeup.

I'll get back to you.

So I'm going to be doing my choreography that I learned in dance.

I really love dance, and I've done it since middle school.

(applause) This is my dog Rosie, and she is six years old.

(laughs) I can't pick you up like that.

Bye.

(Orit) All right, so let's go back there maybe where there were more fireflies.

(Kyra) So Orit had this permit for her to be able to catch fireflies 'cause you just can't, you know, go up to go catch them.

You have to have, like, a permit.

(Jayden) Why don't we try to follow.

(Orit) Here, here, yeah.

(Reagan) It's right there, wow.

(Reagan) Well, you don't want to chase them around in case you trample any ones that are on the ground, either while they're mating, or it's just a female one.

(Orit) Yeah, go, go, go, go.

Nice.

That's amazing.

Good job.

(Reagan) I'ma name you Ray.

I was actually the first one to catch a firefly.

It was cool.

I was happy.

(Jayden) I got one.

(Orit) Nice.

(Jayden) Yes, I caught one firefly.

(laughs) (Reagan) The evil laugh.

(Kyra) I see it blinking, but I don't know where it went.

(Reagan) Kyra, you got to get this one.

(Kyra) I am.

(Jayden) Careful, Kyra.

You just got to swing.

(Reagan) You got to scoop.

(Kyra) We were able to get up close with the fireflies and be able to catch them, study them.

(Jayden) It was so cool to see them, and it's, like, really close.

So I probably recommend, like, going to watch the fireflies at the park or going to help out citizen science collect more data.

(Reagan) Oh, look at that.

(Jayden) Oh, he's synchronizing in there.

(Reagan) Yeah, he's over there on that side synchronizing.

(Jayden) That is so cool.

(Reagan) They're lighting up a lot more when you're near touching them.

(Orit) Could be alarmed.

(Reagan) It's alarmed, yeah.

It's saying SOS.

(Orit) Yeah.

(laughs) (Jayden) There's so many.

(Orit) Yeah, they're synchronizing.

That's really cool.

(Jayden) I see why you do this every year now.

(Orit) Yeah.

(laughs) (Jayden) I thought it was pretty cool to be able to hold the box and kind of, like, hold fireflies in your hand.

(Reagan) I would call it life changing.

It's so beautiful at night, and then you see them synchronizing.

It's really amazing.

(upbeat music) ♪ ♪ Hello.

(Jayden) Hi, Reagan.

(Kyra) Hi.

(Reagan) Hey.

(Jayden) Today, we are at Reagan's house.

(Reagan) Claudia invited us to do a presentation for the firefly festival.

I'm excited.

I like to draw and do arts and crafts, so this is really up my alley, and I enjoy doing this.

(Jayden) We did a little bit of brainstorming, and we got to figure out what we were going to put on the poster.

I think it would probably be something about how to make, like, a safe environment for the fireflies.

(Kyra) You know, how harmful the lights can be.

And like, what lights not to use.

(Jayden) Like help, like, the red filters for the lights so that they're not distracted.

Minimizing activities that could hurt them.

(Reagan) So like, control your kids and stay on the path.

What else we think we could use?

(Kyra) You want to do a life cycle?

(Jayden) Yeah, like, a little bit of information about the fireflies too.

(Reagan) We're going to show the visitors about fireflies, like, what not to do, what you should do.

(Kyra) How many ideas do we have?

(Reagan) We have five ideas so far.

(Kyra) And like pictures and information about the fireflies.

And what type of lights you should use around the fireflies.

(Jayden) And after we figured that out, we started working on it, and we gave each other different jobs.

Just like Reagan was doing some of the drawing.

Kyra was doing some of the writing, and I was doing a lot of cutting.

Maybe we can, like, hand out the red filters to people.

(Reagan) Yeah, that's good to bring in since we're talking about it.

It'll help enforce it instead of someone forgetting about it eventually.

(Jayden) Yeah.

I think the poster's looking pretty good.

I think we're doing pretty well with it.

We got to use a bunch of fun looking papers on it, so it looks really nice.

(Kyra) Nice drawing, Reagan.

(Reagan) Thanks.

(Kyra) I think we're ready for tomorrow.

(Jayden) Hi, my name is Jayden, and this is my dog Charlie.

I love my dog Charlie a lot.

He's great.

Some other things I like to do is take care of plants.

This is probably my favorite plant.

It's a strawberry plant.

I also like to talk on the phone with my friends, but not this one.

I also like to sneak in my little brother's room and play his games while he's gone.

This is just a quick list of a couple things I like.

Making origami frog rings.

Skating.

Dance.

Science, theater, and making big blankets out of a lot of yarn.

And that's me, Jayden.

I'm great.

Whoo!

(Reagan) We're back at the Congaree National Park.

(Jayden) Reagan, Kyra, and I made a poster board about firefly conservation.

(Kyra) Should we turn on the lights?

(Jayden) Yeah, I think we should.

(Kyra) One page was about the life cycle.

One page was about using the red lights.

Another page was about catch and release.

(person) So what do we have?

(Reagan) So this is our presentation about firefly conservation.

(Kyra) People thought our presentation was very interesting 'cause we gave out good information, and then they took the red filters with them.

(Reagan) They liked the art work.

They liked how we got our message through.

(Jayden) We are talking about some ways that you can help protect the fireflies.

(Kyra) So how to keep fireflies' habitat safe is, don't use artificial lights without filters 'cause that can hurt the firefly.

(Jayden) As you can see here, we have some flashlights with red filters.

I thought that presenting to people at the park was pretty fun.

I like to talk.

And I think meeting new people is fun.

(Kyra) The male fireflies are actually the ones that are above the ground.

I mean, we had, like, all the information down, so it wasn't really nerve-racking.

(Reagan) Stay on the paths.

Do not use any pesticides or bug sprays while deep in there.

And like, no littering.

People were surprised about the catch and release rule since they grew up chasing fireflies in their backyard.

(child) What do fireflies eat?

(Jayden) So they eat a lot of plants and vegetation.

But they also eat, like, dead animals... (Reagan) What I feel like us as a team accomplished is getting the information out to help the fireflies.

(Kyra) I was very amazed and proud of, like, our presentation 'cause we worked really hard on it.

(Jayden) You can take the red filters.

(person) I think that it was awesome.

I loved that the fireflies synchronize.

I didn't know that that was a thing.

(Claudia) That looks great.

You did a great job.

I'm so proud of you.

(Jayden) Thank you.

Claudia and Orit said they both liked our presentation, and I thought it was pretty cool that they could see what they taught us.

(Orit) I like this, like, firefly light.

(Reagan) It felt nice.

I was helping others to find a greater cause.

(Jayden) And be able to do it with my friends, which I think was pretty nice.

(Izzie) Oh, Jake, the school's power is out, and now we're gonna have to perform in the dark.

(Jake) But no one will see our cool outfits.

(Izzie groans) I wish I had a million fireflies to light up the gym.

(Jake) Fireflies?

Izz, that's it.

(Izzie) Oh, wait.

What?

(Jake) You can never carry enough cheesy poofs.

And glow sticks.

(Izzie) Yes!

Bioluminescence saves the day.

(Jake) Thanks, little fireflies.

This dance is dedicated to you.

(Izzie chuckles) Whoo!

You know how darkness helps fireflies?

And spin.

Hoo.

Jump.

Well, I think the darkness helped us too.

It challenged us to really think on our feet.

(Jake) And hands.

(Izzie laughs) Oh, yeah.

Hands too.

(laughs) Ta-da!

(both laugh) (Ada) We're going to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

(Isabelle) The salamander capital of the world.

(Kaylee) We went into the woods to find salamanders... - Oh, there's one.

(Kaylee) To collect some data.

(Ada) We learned so much.

- Yeah.

(Luci) Okay, you ready to go in the water?

(Saloni) Let's go!

(Logan) [squeals] Welcome to the Indiana Dunes... (Luci) National Park.

You got this, Saloni.

(Desi) We actually have a project called the Dragonfly Mercury Project.

(Logan) Oh, I got a bug.

(Shania) Logan's got one.

(Luci) Oh, this is cool.

(cheerful music) - Major funding for "Sci Girls" is provided by the National Science Foundation.

Supporting education and research across all fields of science and engineering.

The National Science Foundation, where discoveries begin.

Additional funding is provided by the PPG Foundation which aims to bring color and brightness to communities around the world.

(upbeat music) ♪ ♪ (voice) There's more fun on the SciGirls website.

You can watch videos, play games, and look for creatures in the great outdoors.

See you soon at PBSKids.org.

(girls) ♪ S-C-I-G-I-R-L-S