JUMP TYPE

That's because the winged creatures -- also known as fruit flies, Drosophila Melanogaster -- are part of an experiment. Six weeks ago, biology teacher Joseph Weinbaum proposed the idea to his students.

``The flies are simple and harmless. They've also got a long history in being used for research in genetics,'' said Weinbaum, who teaches at the school, 1050 NW 195th St. ``They pose endless possibilities for research.''

The experiment: To see what environment fruit flies like to lay their eggs -- or pupae -- in. Among the substances used in the experiment were vitamins, perfume and fruit. Tenth-grader Shevon Howard tested six different types of vitamins to see which one the flies preferred.

His findings?

``I tried vitamins like iron and Vitamin C and Lactase,'' Shevon said. ``But the one they seemed to like the most was natural Vitamin C that's found in orange juice. My conclusion was that I found 96 pupae leftover after the six weeks.''

Weinbaum figured the students would have fun with the experiment, while at the same time mastering the scientific method. For Danny Schofield, a student in the school's gifted program, working with flies was something new.

``It was kind of irritating at first,'' Danny said. ``Everybody was like, `Ah -- there's flies everywhere!' But then we started learning from them. It was good to do something new.''

Students tried a variety of perfumes, too. Weinbaum said the flies were indifferent to Topango Mango body spray and Halston cologne, among other scents.

``Now, Colgate toothpaste -- they didn't mind that,'' Weinbaum said, looking at students' reports. ``Elizabeth Taylor's Passion was another story. That one scored lowest on the list.''

The flies -- which usually swarm around outside on campus this time of year -- were trapped into pint-size containers filled with a mixture of yeast and water. Then, whatever substances were being tested -- like chunks of apples and oranges -- were dropped in. A cotton ball was added to the top of the water bottles to keep the flies from getting out, although many did so anyway.

``It's cheap and easy to do -- just find a place where there are a lot of flies,'' said Weinbaum. ``They're much happier, though, if you leave them alone and don't bug them.''