Glow-In-The-Dark....NOT

I will admit that I am addicted to Pinterest. I browse it frequently looking for things to do, both in the classroom, and at home with my boys. Recently I came across a glowing bottle of Mountain Dew. I was mesmerized. Why am I all of a sudden getting flashbacks of Dory from Finding Nemo???

Anyway, I immediately made a mental note that the boys and I were going to light up the night with Mountain Dew. I went to the store and picked up all the supplies, which consisted of baking soda, hydrogen peroxide and Mountain Dew. I didn’t tell the boys what we were doing at first, but realized quickly that I had to tell them, because their eyes were bulging and mouths salivating at the sight of the bottles. Shrieks of glee filled the room, as they ran off to tell Phil. He wasn’t too thrilled with this adventure but was a good sport about it.

I read the directions that I found via the Pinterest link: 1/4” Mountain Dew, a little bit of baking soda and 3 capfuls of hydrogen peroxide. That seemed simple enough. I tested it out first. I mixed everything together and one of the boys flipped off the light.

Nothing. Bummer.

Phil got on the phone and started Googling. I told the boys that the first one to get it to glow wins. I was beginning to wonder if this was going to work at all because the measurements were not “scientifically” accurate. But then I thought, isn’t science all about the experience of the experiment?

My oldest son informed the younger ones that they needed to slow down and make a hypothesis. They must have given him a look of “huh?” because the next thing I heard was “A guess.” They didn’t seem to care because they were all giggling and working rapidly to try and get their bottle to glow.

My flashing disco lighted kitchen was rapidly becoming a huge mess. There was Mountain Dew splashed on the counters, baking soda spilled on the floor, and hydrogen peroxide being squirted down the sides of the soda bottle. (They gave up measuring.)

Meanwhile, Phil showed me his find on the internet…it doesn’t work. As I was reading the article, the lights went out to prove, yet again, that there was another failed attempt. That didn’t seem to stop the boys, they continued on for another 10 minutes before we finally told them it wasn’t going to work. They were disappointed but admittedly had lots of fun. Phil gathered the kids around on the sofa to show them a video on YouTube debunking the “myth”. It was then that I realized that one of the boys was missing. Just then the lights went out. He walked in with a glowing bottle!

Because he stuck a glow stick in it!
Gotta love the ingenuity of children!!