Carnivorous plants are adapted to low nutrient soils and accordingly derive nutrients by trapping animals. Despite being stationary, carnivorous plants are active predators, attracting prey through a combination of visual and olfactory cues. Through course-based undergraduate research projects, we tested the importance of visual cues in the capture of wild type and visually impaired (w¹¹¹⁸) Drosophila melanogaster by the carnivorous plants, Drosera capensis and Nepenthes ventricosa. These studies addressed two main questions: 1) Are visual cues important for prey capture by carnivorous plants? (2) Are there differences between the wild type (Ore R) and visually impaired w¹¹¹⁸D. melanogaster in their behavioral response to visual cues? Student groups exposed fruit flies to carnivorous plants or artificial traps within 37 L aquariums for 8-10 hours and recorded captures. They discovered that visual cues (particularly within the UV spectrum) can have a significant effect in attracting prey to specific trap types. In addition, visual acuity and irradiance levels can impact capture rates by affecting perception of visual cues. These projects illustrate a unique method for testing hypotheses about the importance of visual cues within the capture process and highlight how course-based research projects can be used to tackle relevant scientific questions.