Making Glow-in-the-dark Jello!

Hey Explorers, have you ever seen a plant, animal, or item that… glows in the dark?

This happens because of a property called Luminescence and today, we’re going to explore one type, Fluorescence, as well as make a treat that emits an eerie glow. OoooOOOOOooooOOO!

We’re also going to dive into the history of a natural medicine that is widely available in a soda and has fluorescent properties!

The downloadable PDF worksheet for this experiment can be found here:

—Materials—
Packet of Gelatin Powder
2 cups of Tonic Water - 1 cup could be just water, see Step 4
Measuring Cup
Pot
Stove
Bowl
Spoon
Fridge
Time
Black Light - could be a flashlight or lamp

Some colours of gelatin are more fluorescent than others, so we’re going to do orange and green in order to see which one absorbs and emits more light. Because we’re doing more than one batch at a time, we’ll be using twice the ingredients and supplies.

—Procedure—
1. Measure 1 cup of Tonic Water, put it in your pot, then place your pot on the stove over high heat, bringing it to a boil. You can also use a kettle for this.
2. While the Tonic Water boils, put your Gelatin Packet into your bowl.
3. When the Tonic Water is boiling, carefully remove it from the stove and pour it into the bowl with the powder. Stir with the spoon until the gelatin is fully dissolved.
4. Add another cup of cold Tonic Water to the bowl. This could be replaced with regular water which will reduce the bitter taste of the Tonic Water from the finished gelatin. You can also counteract the bitterness by adding whipped cream or fruit.
5. Cool in the fridge for 4 hours or more. Overnight is best. You can also pour it into a mold first.
6. Remove it from the fridge after the time is up, turn off all other lights, and shine your black light on it! The fluorescent quinine will absorb the ultraviolet light, change its wavelength, and shine it back out as part of the visible light spectrum! Glowing Gelatin!

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