Sarah, Lucas, Lauren, Zach

Period 5
UV Bead Lab
Problem/Background:
UV radiation is where the sun gives out energy over wavelengths. The ozone
layer shields most of the radiation from the sun, which protects us.
We are exposed to UV radiation all the time, but it is in low doses.
The benefit of UV rays is they provide vitamin D for us. Although vitamin d is
gained from the rays it can cause skin cancer. There are many different types of skin
cancers. It can also cause sunburns.
It is good to protect your skin all year round. The hours that you need to be
cautious about are from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm.
People protect themselves from the sun by wearing sunscreen, hats, and
sunglasses. Sunscreen reduces that amount of time it takes for your skin to become
burnt. Hats and sunglasses reduces the amount of radiation is hitting your skin and
eyes.
My group tested 3 different sunscreens to see which one protects the beads the
most.
Question: Will changing the brand of sunscreen with SPF 30 affect the intake of ultra
violet rays?
Hypothesis: I hypothesize that the beads will take different times to take in the most
ultra violet rays because of the sunscreen brand.
Materials: Petri dish, beads, 3 sunscreens that are 30 SPF, timer, UV beads, UV bead
color chart, and data chart.
Procedures:
First we will gather our materials in a place where there is minimal sunlight.
Then put 4 UV beads into four different petri dishes. After we would apply all different
four sunscreens on each petri dish (top and sides). Once covered, we will place them in
a sunny spot with a timer for each four and watch. Once the UV beads are at the full
color, we would stop the timer for that bead. We have to have three sunscreens with
three different brands and one with nothing at all.
The variables that we are testing are how long it will take for the beads to turn
to stage 6 of purple. The independent variable is the beads. They will be changing
based on the sunscreen that is covering them. The dependent variable is the amount of
sunshine that they are getting.
The test that we are conducting is which sunscreen protects the beads the most.
We tested this by covering the dishes in the 3 different types of sunscreens. We timed to
see which set of beads took the longest to change stage 6 on the bead chart.
Are control group is the sunscreen. The sunscreen is protecting the beads and is
never changing. The sunscreen covered the petri dish.

We put the beads towards the middle of two buildings that way there is
sunlight directing off in multiple ways. The beads will be hit by multiple angles.
It was a pretty cloudy day so the beads needed as much sunlight as they could
get.

Data:
Sunscreen
Brands with
SPF 30
Time it took
to the bead
to turn
completely
purple

Banana
Boat

Kiss my
Face

Coppertone

None

339 seconds

259 seconds

343 seconds

46 seconds

Seconds That it Took the Beads to

Turn Completely Purple

Sunscreen Protection
400
350
300
250
200
150

343

339
259

100
50

46

0
Banana Boat

Kiss my Face
Coppertone
Sunscreen Brands with SPF 30

None

Graph:

Analyze and Conclude

UV radiation is a form of radiation from the sun that you cannot see. My
group tested which sunscreen out of Coppertone, Kiss my Face, and Banana Boat
would protect the beads most. I hypothesized that that the beads will take different
times to take in the most ultra violet rays because of the sunscreen brand.
Each set of beads took a different amount of time to turn the beads
completely purple. The beads that had Coppertone sunscreen covering it took five
minutes and forty-three seconds to have the beads turn completely purple. The
beads that took the shortest amount of time (not including the beads without any
protection) were the beads that were covered in Kiss my Face. This sunscreen took
four minutes and nineteen seconds.

In our experiment we used all SPF 30 sunscreens. The Skin Cancer

Foundation suggests that using a sunscreen with an SPF over 15 will be sufficient. If
you go into a more sunny area you will want more protection from a sunscreen with
a higher SPF. When applying our sunscreen onto the petri dish it was not covered
completely. On the Skin Cancer Foundation website it suggests that the sunscreen
needs to be absorbed for about 30 minutes prier to use in the sun. The petri dishes
do not absorb.
Wearing sunscreen is very important. It can help decrease the chances of
getting cancer. When buying a sunscreen you should buy one that has a strong
enough SPF for the situation you are going to be in. When testing the protection
from Banana Boat, Kiss my Face, and Coppertone, Coppertone was the most
protective.
Bibliography:
"Effects of UV Radiation on You." Student's Guide -. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2014.
"EPA." Health Effects of UV Radiation. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2014.
"Skin Cancer Foundation." Sunscreens Explained. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2014.
"What Is Ultraviolet (UV) Radiation?" American Cancer Society. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Oct.
2014.