Electricity in Nature – Electroreception

Electroreception is the ability for species to sense electricity. It is used to communicate, to hunt, establish territory, breed, and to sense location. An animal that sends or receives and electric signal is known as weakly electric, and almost all weakly electric species are aquatic. The exceptions are platypus, echidna, cockroaches, and bees.

Electroreception can be used to discuss many topics:

• Electricity
• Evolution
• Ecosystems
• Biology

Here are a few links:

For information about aquatic species:
How sharks and other animals evolved electrorecepton

PBS: How sharks and rays use electricity to find prey Age range: 11 and up.

Discovery Shark Week: Electroreception Age range: 11 and up.

For information about bees:
Bumblebees sense electric fields in flowers (Nature International weekly journal of science) Age range: This is an adult level article, but it is short. It is a good summary of the discovery.

Why are bumblebees so hairy? Age Range: 9 and up.This article has connections to the NGSS and to Common Core to help with curriculum planning. It also has some lesson ideas.

Bees find flowers using static electricity Age range: This is an adult news article, but it has good information on the discovery.

For information on platypus and echidna:
Platypus hunts with sixth sense (National Geographic) Age Range: 12 and up.

Wild Kratts Platypus Cafe Age range: 6 to 10

Wildlife and science news: Platypus factsAge range: 9 and up.

Academic Kids Encyclopedia: Platypus Age range: 12 and up.