Nathaniel Kuffner

Per 5
UV Bead Lab
Names: Nathaniel Kuffner, Ely Selden, James

UV Bead Lab
Akashi
Per 5
Problem/Background (individual work): The sun emits energy over a broad
spectrum of wavelengths in three different types of energy. Visible light that you can
see, infrared radiation that you can feel, and UV (ultra violet) radiation that you can't
see or feel. Each type of sunlight plays a big role in the natural world, especially on
the human skin.
Almost all of the UV rays that hit our skin every day come from the sun. The
sun shines down on the earth with three separate types of rays, UVA, UVB, and
UVC. The UVA rays are the rays that burn our skin and are not blocked by the ozone
layer. The UVB rays are slightly more harmful and are mostly blocked by the ozone
layer, and the UVC rays are the most harmful and are completely blocked by the
ozone layer.
Its bad because if enough radiation hits your skin, you will eventually get a
sunburn but you can easily protect yourself. But it is also good as the UV radiation is
good for your body because it gives you vitamin D which is essential for your health.
The benefits definitely outweigh the risks in this case.
All products of pros and cons. For instance sunscreen protects your skin from
harsh sunlight, but it does carry many types of harmful chemicals. That is why the
government suggests putting in less sunscreen, seeking shade in the late afternoon,
wearing hats, and wearing long sleeved shirts and pants.
There are many ways that people protect themselves from the sun. People
wear hats and sunscreen the most often, because they allow the wearer to move
while wearing them. Hats completely block out the UV rays and provide shade on
their face. The sunscreen blocks out most of the sun, but not all. The sunscreen also
wears down after a while and becomes less effective.
To solve these problems we decided to create an experiment to test different
ways to limit the effect of UV rays on the human body.
(Group Work)
Question: In this lab we tested whether the color of water affected the penetration
of UV rays.
Hypothesis: I hypothesized that the color of water would affect the penetration of
UV rays.
Materials: The materials we used in this lab are as follows:
Food Coloring
Water
UV beads
Beaker
Procedures:
To start this lab, fill three identical beakers with ten centimeters of water and
get an empty petri dish. Then place a uv bead weighed down with a paperclip in the
middle of each beaker and the petri dish. After that, put six drops of red food coloring
into one beaker of water and six drops of green food coloring into the other. Finally,
bring the beakers outside and record the color of the beads every minute for ten
minutes.

Nathaniel Kuffner
Per 5
UV Bead Lab
In this lab, we need to control the color of the water, the amount of water, the
container size, and the amount of sunlight to make the test accurate.
In this lab we are testing whether the color of water affects the amount of UV
rays that hit the UV beads. The independent variable was the color of the water, and
the dependent variable was the amount of UV rays that penetrate the water, or the
color of the beads.
Graph:
Beaker A=Bead in petri dish
Beaker B=Bead in clear water
Beaker C=Bead in green water
Beaker D=Bead in red water

Nathaniel Kuffner
Per 5
UV Bead Lab

Nathaniel Kuffner
Per 5
UV Bead Lab

Nathaniel Kuffner
Per 5
UV Bead Lab

Analyze and Conclude (break out into paragraphs that are clear)
1. In this lab, we were asked to write our own question and create the test.
2. Our question was; does the color of water affect the amount of UV rays that
penetrate it.
3. We believed that the color of water would have an effect of the amount of UV that
penetrate it.
4. During the test, we had four beakers of water. Each one was filled with something
different. There was a beaker with nothing in it, one with just water, one with green
water, and one with red water. The beakers with just water and nothing both went
straight to the 6th level in the first two minutes, but the two beakers filled with colored
water blocked the UV rays and it took the colored beakers 8 minutes to reach level
6.
5. We found that the amount of UV radiation was definitely blocked out by the color
of water, and when we looked at a PDF we found on the EPA website, we found that
not only was our lab correct about water color, but also that the amount of particles
in the water, or how clean the water is, can affect the amount of UV rays.
6. In this lab, there were a few things that were kind of limited. the biggest and most
important of these things was that we couldnt use the colors of real ocean water or
lake water. There are no bright red or bright green water anywhere natural in the
world. If we had wanted to do this experiment right, we would have put sand or dirt
or something natural in the water and then the test would have been more practical.
7. Using the data we gathered from our experiment and from research, we said that
the color of water or the amount of particles in the water affects ocean and lake
organisms greatly, whether its helping them get away from the UV rays or blocking
the sun too much and not allowing them to get the proper amount of UV radiation.
8. In conclusion, we discovered that the color of water does affect the amount of UV
rays that penetrate it and that in nature, the amount of particles in the water also
blocks UV rays.
Bibliography: Water, Epa Office Of. "8. ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION." (n.d.): n.
pag. EPA. Apr. 1999. Web. 6 Nov. 14.
<http://water.epa.gov/lawsregs/rulesregs/sdwa/mdbp/upload/2001_01_12_mdbp_alt
er_chapt_8.pdf>.
Scherrer, Deborah. Experimenting with UV- sensitive Beads (n.d.): n. pag. Stanford
Solar Center. Web. <http://solar-center.stanford.edu/activities/UV-BeadInstructions.pdf>.