photo credit 

Foxfire! 

The light phenomena of White Deer Woods is Dean Swift’s obsession. Here are some resources for teachers and students interested in taking a closer look at bioluminescence.  As always, I’d love to hear from you! Email me your discoveries and ideas at sandy@sandra-evans.com.

Videos 

The weird and wonderful world of bioluminescence, TED Talk on bioluminescent sea animals by Edith Widder, at 12:45

Stunning time lapse of bioluminescent mushrooms by MushrooMetropolis at 2:06

World’s 10 most bizarre natural phenomena by list25, with firenados, fairy circles, and ball lightning, at 4:01

Video and Research project

25 Bizarre Natural Phenomenon That Actually Occur On Earth — at 4:48 find a beautiful example of bioluminescence, at 6:26 lenticular clouds, 10:28 

Project   Photocopy the list of the phenomena the video shows. You’ll find it right there if you scroll down a bit beneath the video. Give one list to each group/table.  Have students watch the whole video. Be ready to hit ‘pause’ and let them talk for a little bit in small groups about what they’re seeing.   Tell them to note on the list which phenomena interest them the most.  After the video, pair them according to research interests.  Each pair will investigate their topic and present it to either their table group or the class. Where does it happen? Why? How often? Who studies it?