Description:

Bioluminescence is a form of chemiluminescence, which is the production of visible light by a chemical reaction. Scientists call the process bioluminescence when the reaction occurs in living organisms.

It is estimated that more than 75% of animals that live in the water column in the open ocean are bioluminescent. In this investigation, students explore several organisms with various adaptations that produce light, theorize how these adaptations aid the organisms’ survival, and make sense of the phenomenon “why do many deep-sea organisms glow in the dark?”