Explore: Ages 4–8

Look 👀

Study the mural carefully.

• How many flytraps can you count?
• Can you find any insects?
• What colors did the artist use?
• What shapes do you notice?
  
• Does the plant look realistic, imaginary, or a little of both?
  
• How did the artist use parts of the building as part of the artwork?
  
• What do you think might happen next?

Learn 👩🏽‍🎓

A Venus flytrap is a small plant with leaves shaped like traps. Each trap has tiny hairs inside it. When an insect touches the hairs in the right way, the trap can quickly snap shut. Like other green plants, it uses sunlight, air, and water to make food, but it needs more nutrients. It catches insects to get extra nutrients that are difficult to find in its soil. Venus flytraps grow naturally only in a small region that includes southeastern North Carolina. This makes them a special part of our local environment.

Talk About It

• Why do you think the plant is called a Venus flytrap?
• How is a Venus flytrap different from most plants?
  
• Why does the plant catch insects?
  
• Why is it important to protect wild Venus flytraps?
• What questions would you ask a park ranger about the plant?

Read 📚

Look for books about Venus flytraps, carnivorous plants, insects, and local habitats at the New Hanover County Public Library.

Suggested titles include:

• Hungry Plants from the Step Into Reading series
  
• Venus Flytraps Eat Bugs by Barbara Linde

Try an Activity

Make a Paper Plate Venus flytrap Puppet

Create a puppet that shows how a Venus flytrap opens and closes!

Materials:

• Two paper plates
• Green and pink paint or crayons
• White cardstock or construction paper
• Glue
• Child-safe scissors
• Pom-poms
• Wiggle eyes, optional

Directions:

1. Color or paint one plate green around the edge and pink in the center.
2. Fold the plate or have an adult help cut and assemble it so it can open and close like a mouth.
3. Cut white paper into pointed “teeth” and glue them around the edge.
4. Add leaves, a stem, and wiggle eyes.
5. Turn pom-poms into pretend flies by adding paper wings.
6. Use the puppet to catch the paper flies.

What did the Venus flytrap say to the waiter?
"There's no fly in my soup!"

Investigate: Ages 9–12

Look  👀

Examine the mural closely.

• What colors and shapes make the flytrap stand out?
• How did the artist create a sense of movement?
• Which parts of the plant appear scientifically accurate?
• Which parts reflect the artist’s imagination?
• How does the whimsical style affect the way you respond to the plant?
  
• How would the artwork change if it were painted in a realistic scientific style?
• Why might an artist choose a native plant as the subject of a public mural?

A Rare Native Carnivorous Plant

The Venus flytrap is one of the best-known carnivorous plants. Its native range is remarkably small and is centered in the coastal plain of North Carolina and South Carolina. Venus flytraps grow in sunny, wet habitats with acidic soil that contains relatively few nutrients. They still make sugars through photosynthesis, just as other green plants do. However, capturing insects and other small animals supplies nutrients—especially nitrogen and phosphorus—that are scarce in the soil. Each trap is a modified leaf with sensitive trigger hairs on its inner surface. When prey touches the hairs in the proper sequence, the trap closes. This system helps the plant distinguish potential prey from a single raindrop or piece of debris. The edges of the trap contain pointed structures that interlock as it closes. If the trapped object is suitable prey, the plant seals the trap more tightly and releases digestive substances. After digestion, the trap eventually reopens.

How Does the Flytrap Survive?

Venus flytraps have several adaptations that help them survive in nutrient-poor environments:

• Traps capture insects and other small organisms.
• Trigger hairs help the plant detect movement.
• Rapid closure helps prevent prey from escaping.
• Interlocking edges help hold prey inside.
• Digestive substances break down the prey.
• Roots absorb water and some nutrients from the soil.
• Green leaves continue to perform photosynthesis.

Catching insects supplements the plant’s nutrients; it does not replace photosynthesis.

Analyze the Science

• Why would carnivory be useful in nutrient-poor soil?
• What does the plant gain from insects?
• Why is it helpful for the trap to require more than one stimulus before closing?
• What would happen if the trap reacted to every raindrop?
• Why must the plant balance the energy used to close a trap with the nutrients gained from prey?
• How are the trap’s color, shape, and movement connected to its function?
• In what ways is a Venus flytrap similar to other plants?
• In what ways is it different?

Read 📚 

You can find these books and more at our local library:

• Who's Eating Who? by Elizabeth Gilbert Bedia
• Inspector Flytrap by Tom Angleburger (fiction series)

You might also enjoy learning more about:

• Carnivorous plant adaptations
• The Venus flytrap’s native range
• Coastal plain habitats
• Nutrient-poor soils
• Photosynthesis
• Plant conservation
• Other carnivorous plants, including sundews and pitcher plants

Try an Activity

Habitat and Conservation

Venus flytraps depend on specialized coastal habitats. Protecting them means protecting the entire ecosystem around them. Create a poster for visitors to learn more about these plants, their ecosystem, and how to observe Venus flytraps responsibly.

Consider:

• Why open, sunny conditions are important
• How changes in water levels could affect the plants
• Why collecting wild plants is illegal and can damage populations
• How habitat loss affects native species