UV Beads

Did you know that our skin is an excellent detector of ultraviolet (UV) radiation?
When bare skin is exposed to the sun, it will either turn red (sunburn) or brown (suntan). This happens because the skin shows that it is being "attacked" by UV  radiation. UV radiation wavelengths are short enough to break chemical bonds in your skin tissue and over prolonged exposure, your skin may wrinkle or skin cancer may appear.
We got some UV beads to detect UV. (A much safer way to see UV in action!) These plastic beads contain a chemical which changes colour when exposed to UV radiation. It was amazing how quickly they changed colour outside - even on a cloudy day.

 We put some beads in 2 plastic bags and smothered one of these bags in sunscreen. We left the other bag clear. We then took both bags outside. The one covered in sunscreen stayed a pale colour, whereas the other bag of beads changed colour really quickly.

These beads change back to white when away from the UV radiation.

If you are interested in purchasing some for yourselves , the beads can be purchased from here.