If you read our experiment called (Glowing) Ice, Ice Baby, you already know all about what happens next – it’s fluorescence!
“100” Fireflies in a Jar
This activity was chosen to celebrate our 100th straight day of STEM Play. When deciding how to mark this special occasion, there was no shortage of suggestions.
My husband wanted to make homemade sparklers. Although this is totally do-able, given that I have an unofficial rule against fire and explosives, I had no choice but to veto this idea. Such disappointment (for him, not me).
The next problem was our 100th day fell on a Monday, a school day. Only one idea made sense. Do something with GLOW STICKS!
I wanted to stress the PLAY part of STEM Play Every Day. What could be better than playing with glow sticks, just because and DURING THE DAY!
We snapped them into action and played inside our dark room (aka our windowless bathroom) because the sun was still shining. The most challenging part was deciding which glow sticks to pick out of the package!
Then we did our super short experiment, different temperatures and glow sticks. Does anything happen? Yep, it sure does! But today was all about the fun, so I’ll save that story for another day.
So after playing, after our experiment, we had all these glow sticks, well, glowing. The next logical step was to cut them open, right? Learn how they work! We called this one “fireflies” in a jar. Because that’s what they looked like! Then my daughter yelled out “Fireflies are chemical bugs!”. She’s definitely my child.
Needless to say when my husband came home to discover us making a mess in the “dark room” he just shook his head and walked away. We didn’t really notice because we were having WAY too much fun!
Instructions
Required Materials:
- Glow sticks
- Scissors
- Gloves
- Jar with lid
- Paper towel
- Dark room
Time:
- Preparation/Experiment: 10 minutes
- Observations and Results: As long as you like (or until the glow fades)
Steps:
- Set up your work space. It’s going to get messy. We put down lots of paper towels on a little table.
- Pick the glow sticks you want. Different colours are best.
- Snap and shake your glow sticks to get them glowing!
- With a pair of scissors (and gloves!), cut the plastic end off the glow stick. (The glow liquid may start to come out immediately so be sure to do this over the jar you are using).
- You may need to shake the glow stick contents into the jar or just let it just drip out if you are patient.
- Be careful! Some of the glass from inside the glow stick may come out.
- Once you have collected the glow liquid. Close the jar lid tightly then SHAKE to splatter the glow liquid around inside the jar. You don’t need a huge amount of liquid to produce the firefly effect.
- Turn off the lights and enjoy the show!
Tips and Tricks
We had the long skinny glow sticks (you know the ones for making bracelets and necklaces). It was actually quite challenging to get the liquid out. I think the thicker ones might be better but we didn’t try those because that would mean a trip into town.
I didn’t wear gloves when cutting open the glow sticks. Big mistake. I won’t make that mistake again. The liquid squirted out much faster than I had anticipated. Good thing we were in the bathroom, so I could wash up very quickly. Definitely an adult step.
If you decide to “shake” or “flick” the glow stick liquid into the jar, do so VERY gently. You don’t want these chemicals splashing around or ending up on you or your walls or your floor. And be aware that there is glass inside, broken glass! I tried to keep everything contained in the jar. And clean up any spills immediately. This is no joke!
Speaking of chemicals and spills. If you get any on you, WASH IMMEDIATELY with soap and water. These are chemicals (read the label on your packaging!). Preparing outside would be a good idea. I would advise getting an adult to do all the steps until you reached the “jar is tightly closed with the lid” step.
Use a jar you can throw out. You shouldn’t use these jars again for anything else. We used old spaghetti sauce jars not my good mason jars.
Firefly Jar
A firefly jar is an item that can be obtained by capturing fireflies with a net. Capturing a firefly will give the respective color of the jar.
Crafting ingredient [ ]
| Image | Name | Recipe | Crafting station | Required skill |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Firefly Lantern | 1 Yellow Firefly Jar 25 Stone |
Workbench Tier 1 Workbench Tier 2 Workbench Tier 3 Workbench Tier 4 |
None | |
| Silver Butterfly Lantern | 1 Yellow Firefly Jar 10 Iron Ingot |
Workbench Tier 2 Workbench Tier 3 Workbench Tier 4 |
None | |
| Red Butterfly Lantern | 1 Red Firefly Jar 10 Red Bronze Ingot |
Workbench Tier 2 Workbench Tier 3 Workbench Tier 4 |
None | |
| Green Butterfly Lantern | 1 Green Firefly Jar 5 Iron Ingot |
Workbench Tier 2 Workbench Tier 3 Workbench Tier 4 |
None | |
| Gamepass required | ||||
| Firefly Wall Lamp | 1 Yellow Firefly Jar 10 Iron Ingot |
Lighting Station | Level 13 Animal Care | |
| Firefly Garden Light | 1 Yellow Firefly Jar 25 Oak Wood |
Lighting Station | None | |
Colored lights [ ]
Firefly jars can be used to change the light color of the firefly lantern, firefly wall lamp, and firefly garden lamp. The color is changed by clicking on the light while holding a jar. The jar can be collected back by breaking the light.
Display [ ]
Fireflies can be displayed in a display case by pressing on the display case while holding a jar. Fireflies emit light, which makes displaying fireflies a source of light.
History [ ]
| September 6, 2020 | Added firefly jars. |
|---|---|
| September 10, 2022 | Firefly jars can now be used to craft butterfly lanterns. |
- Although it is in a jar, having a jar is not necessary to capture it.
