Glow-in-the-dark creatures possess one of the most amazing abilities in our world. Using only chemicals in their bodies, they can create bioluminescence, or "living light." The lights they produce come in an astonishing variety of colours and patterns. Glow-in-the-dark creatures use their light displays to hide from enemies, to cry for help, to warn of danger or to find a mate. It is a beautiful silent language.
From fireflies and glowworms to flashlight fish and velvet belly lantern sharks, the diversity and number of creatures who are bioluminescent have surprised scientists. They have found bioluminescent creatures who flit across the night sky, creep along the shadowy ground, float in moonless oceans and swim in the deepest, darkest parts of the sea.
° Find out which land and sea creatures make light.
° Discover why bioluminescence is so important in nature.
° Examine the chemical process that occurs to make creatures glow.
° Learn why different creatures create different colours.
° Discover how scientists are harnessing the powers of bioluminescence for human uses.
° Make glow-in-the-dark slime, create a firefly-squid necklace and learn how to catch fireflies.
Natalie Hyde is the author of the best-selling middle grade novels Saving Armpit and Hockey Girl. She lives in southern Ontario.
"This informative text should prove to be a very useful addition to a school library resource centre as well as for classroom studies and discussions."
—Resource Links
"Students will learn which creatures use chemicals in their bodies to create "living light" and that these lights come in an astonishing variety of colours and patterns. They will learn about the importance of bioluminescence in nature, examine the chemical process that occurs to make creatures glow, learn why different creatures create different colours and discover how scientists are harnessing the power of bioluminescence for human uses. . . I would still recommend the book as an excellent resource on this topic. . . The activities have been well selected, though, sound like fun and are explained in a straightforward and clear manner."
— Canadian Children's Book News
"This well-researched and well-written book is sure to fascinate your junior nonfiction fans. What's not to like about creatures — plant and animal — that glow in the dark? . . Glow in the Dark Creatures will make a good addition to your library's science collection. The only thing that could make it one bit more appealing is if they had made the cover — glow in the dark! That would have been fun."
Highly Recommended."
— CM Magazine
2016 Silver Birch Non-Fiction Award nominee
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