THE SCIENCE LAB

Make & Do Activity Kit

Sunscreen safety
In this experiment we investigate how sunscreen works to protect our skin from U.V rays. We use U.V beads to represent our skin to see the effects of protected and unprotected exposure.

Time: 30 minutes Difculty: Hints: Observe and compare the results quickly
as the colour will begin to revert back to its original state. the 3 bags with a 1. Label permenant marker as follows: 1. Control (no sun) 2. Control (no sunscreen) 3. SPF rating, eg. we have used SPF 30. your beads evenly 2. Split between your bags and lock them. Cover the Control (no sun) bag with black card and tape it shut. the outside of your 3. Cover SPF bag with a layer of

What you will need:

U.V Colour changing beads ziplock bags a permanent marker sunscreens of different strengths black paper

sunscreen. Rub it over the bag evenly. Put nothing on the Control (no sunscreen) bag. your bags out in the 4. Lay sun for 5 minutes (or until the Control (no sunscreen) beads show a strong colour change.) ring your beads inside. 5. B Quickly unwrap the black paper. The beads had varying degrees of protection from the sun. Do you see difference results? can try this experiment 6. You again using different strengths of sunscreen to test the difference in protection they give from U.V rays.

500 Harris St Ultimo Tel: 02 6217 0111 This work is licensed under the Creative POK346 Box K346 Haymarket NSW 1238 http://play.powerhousemuseum.com This work is licensed under a Creative Commons AttributionPO Box Haymarket NSW 1238 Commons Attribution-NonCommercialAustralia Tel: 02 9217 0111 NonCommercial 3.0 Australia (CC BY-NC 3.0 AU) Australia ShareAlikeLicence 2.5 License.

500 Harris st. Ultimo

Creative Commons Licence for use of this work

http://play.powerhousemuseum.com

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/au/

THE SCIENCE LAB

Make & Do Activity Kit

Sunscreen investigation

Page 2

Whats going on?

U.V. beads are made from plastic with imbedded with a photochromic dye. This means that the dye changes colour when it reacts with U.V. light like the U.V. light in sunlight. Sunscreen is made from a mixture of chemicals. It works by either scattering light away from the skin (or beads!) or by absorbing the rays so our skin (or beads!) doesnt absorb them. SPF stands for sun protection factor. The higher the number the higher the protection. SPF 30 protects against 97% of U.V. rays. Because some U.V. rays get through sunscreen, SPF represents how long it will take for your skin to turn red i.e. with SPF 15 it will take 15x longer for your skin to be damaged then if you were not wearing sunscreen.

What else can I do?

How waterproof is sunscreen? Place beads in three bags and cover each with sunscreen of the same SPF. Put one in salt water for 2 minutes, one in fresh water for 2 minutes.The control stays out in the air. After the 2 minutes are up, lay your plastic bags containing your beads in the sun, as before. Has the water affected the protection the sunscreen provides? Your U.V beads can tell you when you have been exposed to U.V rays. The darker the colour the more U.V you have been exposed to.

500 Harris St Ultimo PO Box K346 Haymarket NSW 1238 Australia

9 Tel: 02 6217 0111 http://play.powerhousemuseum.com

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercialShareAlike 2.5 License.