Fluorescent Minerals

Minerals fluorescing under longwave UV light, Image Credit: Joan Stoker

(See more about this image below)

To earn your Fluorescent Minerals badge, you should be able to define “fluorescence” and explain why some minerals fluoresce and then name some common fluorescent minerals. You might also learn about famous localities for fluorescent minerals, collect examples and create a fluorescent display case, and learn about safety when it comes to working with ultraviolet lamps.

Badge 18 - Fluorescent Minerals.pdf

What's not to like about rocks, minerals, and even fossils that glow in the dark?

It can usually be completed in one 60-90 minute session.

<--Click on upper right to open the manual page and see the Requirement options (Activities) offered.

Once opened, you will see the option to print or download this section on your screen.

SUPPLEMENTAL / OPTIONAL MATERIALS

The materials below illustrate how some leaders taught this badge, using 3-4 requirements they chose for their groups. See the Badge manual for other requirement activities you may like better.

Click on Suggested Worksheet Packets links below for the approximate age group you want to explore .

About the image on this page

These are the same two minerals from the picture above photographed in normal light. The ability of minerals to fluoresce was first described by Sir George Stokes in 1852. He named the effect "fluorescence" after the mineral Fluorite that he was working with. With the availability of handheld short and long wave UV lights; we can now experience the variety of colors that rocks, minerals, and even fossils emit when viewed under UV light in a darken room.

Image Credit: Joan Stoker