STEAM Labs Science Program: Glow Paint
Tuesday, Dec. 1 · 4 pm - 5 pm Longmont Public Library 355 Emery St., Longmont, CO 80501
- For children in 1st – 5th grade and their caregivers.
- Library Meeting Rooms
- No registration necessary
Join us for a special program with STEAMLabs to learn the science behind glow paint and color-changing paint. Participants will get an introduction to the concepts and get to try hands-on experiments.
Glow paint focuses on teaching kids how fluorescent paint works. Presenters will make fluorescent paint ahead of time by mixing phenyl oxalate ester (inside the glow stick tube) with hydrogen peroxide, in which a chemiluminescent reaction occurs. Children will sketch out a design that they would like to paint, and volunteers will help them paint it (to avoid exposure to chemicals). After everyone’s painting has been created, we will spray it with hydrogen peroxide and then turn the lights off. The paintings will begin to glow in the dark!
MB paint is a color-changing reaction. Children will create their own painting, and then we will spray it with a methylene blue solution. A “color change” reaction will occur, and the kids will watch the spray transform their paintings from having a clear spray to having a blue one, leaving a blue layer over the whole painting.
About STEAMLabs
The program is from STEAMLabs, which is a nonprofit stemming from a team of high school students passionate about STEM, dedicated to making science, technology, engineering, and math more accessible to elementary and middle school students. Through hands-on lab experiences and interactive learning, we aim to inspire curiosity, creativity, and a love for STEM in the next generation.
