In this Activity, students investigate the luminescent properties of common items such as glow-in-the-dark stickers, wintergreen-flavored hard candies, and a chlorophyll solution made from spinach leaves. After making observations, they use a flowchart to categorize the luminescent items as fluorescent, phosphorescent, or triboluminescent. This Activity allows students to directly see emission of light as a result of electron transitions. It could be used as an introduction to atomic structure. It also illustrates the concepts of energy transformation and conservation; it could be useful during a discussion of photosynthesis in an AP Biology class.
Patricia B. O'Hara, Carol Engelson, and Wayne St. Peter, J. Chem. Educ. 2005, 82, p48A (Jan 2005).