SUN
Hot, Bright
Burning, Heating, Energizing
Sol, Fire, Space Light
Shining, Twinkling, Sparkling
Estrella, Bright
STAR
To sneak in some MORE literacy, she read Bear Shadow, by Frank Asch - a story about a bear who was outside all day trying to do everything he could think of to get rid of his shadow because it scared away the fish when we went fishing.
Madison said, “I had an idea of doing an art project with you. I thought you could make bracelets. I went to the store to buy you some beads with money from my allowance. The colorful beads were too expensive, I could not afford them, so I could only get these white ones.” We made bracelets, and then we took the kids outside.
As soon as we got out in the sun they noticed the beds stared to change colors. “Wow!” They were shocked to realize they had been tricked. We explained to them that the cheap white beads were actually ultraviolet (U.V.) light detection beads that change color when exposed to U.V. rays.
U.V. Detection Beads. These beads are very good at detecting and indicating changes in levels of UV radiation. Madison told the group that brown prescription bottles were colored that way to protect our medicine from damaging UV rays. When we put UV beads in the prescription bottle we could see NO color change. Looks like the little brown bottles do a good job!
After we discovered this, we decided to conduct some experiments.
We discussed some of the things people use to block UV rays, like sunglasses and sunscreen. We decided to compare how two different types of sunglasses blocked the UV rays. We predicted that the $5 sunglasses labeled as 100% UV protection would block the sun better than the free kids meal toy sunglasses. We found that the beads protected by BOTH sunglasses were colorless when we removed the glasses. We concluded that more research would be needed to conclude anything!
Sunscreen Experiment - When it comes to sunscreen, there are lots of SPFs (Sun Protection Factors). We thought, “What if we protected the UV beads with different SPF sunscreens.” Since these beads are very sensitive to changes in UV, we decided to conduct an experiment - using the beads to look for differences in how bright the color of the beads would be when exposed to direct sunlight. To find out which sunscreens work best, we collected four strengths of sunscreen (SPF 2, 30, 50 & 70). First we coated some zip top bags with the difference strengths of sunscreen similar to the way we would apply it to skin. We labeled each bag with the SPF of the sunscreen we applied. Then we placed the bracelets we made into the zip top bags. We put NO sunscreen on one bag for a control. Then we exposed the bags to direct sunlight and observed and recorded the results. We observed a big difference between the SPF 2 and the SPF 70, but NOT a big difference between SPF 30 & SPF 50. We also observed that ALL sunscreens let some UV radiation through.
Complete Experiment Description
Nature Prints Experiment: We applied sunscreen (the same sunscreen that we applied to the zip-top bags containing UV detection beads) directly to the sun sensitive paper. Again we found that the SPF 50 & 70 was much better at blocking UV rays than the SPF 2, and 30 and ALL sunscreens allowed some UV rays to get through.
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| UV Bead Bracelets and Rings |
As soon as we got out in the sun they noticed the beds stared to change colors. “Wow!” They were shocked to realize they had been tricked. We explained to them that the cheap white beads were actually ultraviolet (U.V.) light detection beads that change color when exposed to U.V. rays.
 |
| You know where we get our beads! |
U.V. Detection Beads. These beads are very good at detecting and indicating changes in levels of UV radiation. Madison told the group that brown prescription bottles were colored that way to protect our medicine from damaging UV rays. When we put UV beads in the prescription bottle we could see NO color change. Looks like the little brown bottles do a good job!
 |
| Prescription Bottle with White UV Beads Visible |
After we discovered this, we decided to conduct some experiments.
We discussed some of the things people use to block UV rays, like sunglasses and sunscreen. We decided to compare how two different types of sunglasses blocked the UV rays. We predicted that the $5 sunglasses labeled as 100% UV protection would block the sun better than the free kids meal toy sunglasses. We found that the beads protected by BOTH sunglasses were colorless when we removed the glasses. We concluded that more research would be needed to conclude anything!
 |
| Sunglasses Covering the Beads |
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| It was still white when we removed the $5 sunglasses! |
Sunscreen Experiment - When it comes to sunscreen, there are lots of SPFs (Sun Protection Factors). We thought, “What if we protected the UV beads with different SPF sunscreens.” Since these beads are very sensitive to changes in UV, we decided to conduct an experiment - using the beads to look for differences in how bright the color of the beads would be when exposed to direct sunlight. To find out which sunscreens work best, we collected four strengths of sunscreen (SPF 2, 30, 50 & 70). First we coated some zip top bags with the difference strengths of sunscreen similar to the way we would apply it to skin. We labeled each bag with the SPF of the sunscreen we applied. Then we placed the bracelets we made into the zip top bags. We put NO sunscreen on one bag for a control. Then we exposed the bags to direct sunlight and observed and recorded the results. We observed a big difference between the SPF 2 and the SPF 70, but NOT a big difference between SPF 30 & SPF 50. We also observed that ALL sunscreens let some UV radiation through.
Complete Experiment Description
 |
| Sunscreen and Nature Print Paper Experiment |
Nature Prints Experiment: We applied sunscreen (the same sunscreen that we applied to the zip-top bags containing UV detection beads) directly to the sun sensitive paper. Again we found that the SPF 50 & 70 was much better at blocking UV rays than the SPF 2, and 30 and ALL sunscreens allowed some UV rays to get through.
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