UV Changing Colour Beads

This resource is an experiment presented by NASA and the Stanford Solar Centre that is simple for educators to implement in the classroom for early learners. The experiment is called “Experimenting with UV-sensitive Beads” and the learning objectives for the activity are as followed:

1. The Sun produces light in all wavelengths, including invisible ultraviolet (UV).
2. UV can be dangerous and can burn our skin, damage our eyes, and destroy our cells.
3. The Earth’s atmosphere provides significant, but not complete, protection from UV.
4. There are both ways to detect UV and also to protect ourselves from it.

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The idea of the experiment is that children experiment with ultraviolet (UV) light-sensitive plastic beads using a variety of materials including water, sunscreen, orange pill bottles, sunglasses, fabrics, etc. The scientific reasoning of the experiment covers wavelengths of light and how they can cause a colour change in the UV beads along with the learning objectives stated above.

This is a great resource because it is a simple experiment that breads a lot of discussion and hands-on experimentation. The resource produces an already made worksheet with a list of materials, scientific reasoning, questions to ask, and all the materials needed. Produced by NASA and the Stanford Solar Centre also give this resource credibility. This experiment can be great for younger children to explore but can also push the knowledge of older students too when using different materials. A cautionary safety warning however would be not to carry out this experiment with very young learners because of how small the UV beads are, it can become a chocking hazard.

To get an idea of that UV beads look like, watch this video:

To buy UV-sensitive beads, click here!h