Light is made up of different lengths of light waves. White light can be refracted to see the colors inside. To see the visible spectrum, we wore refraction glasses or rainbow peepholes. Suddenly, the colors in the rainbow were everywhere there was light.

Ultra violet (UV light) means beyond violet and it is a type of light that we cannot see. UV light helps our bodies make Vitamin D, but too much UV light can cause sunburn. Though some ultraviolet light waves from the sun penetrate Earth’s atmosphere, most of them are blocked from entering by gases like Ozone. Some days, more ultraviolet waves get through our atmosphere. Scientists have developed a UV index to help people protect themselves from harmful ultraviolet waves.

Click here to check the UV index in your area or anywhere else in the world. (Remember to check an area during daylight hours.) You will also find the UV index on weather apps on your phone. Take a few seconds and check the UV index on your phone several times each week. Scroll down to the bottom of the weather forecast. If you have a reptile or amphibian tank at home, you probably have a UV light on it.

My scientists strung bracelets with white beads. When we walked outside, the beads seemed to magically change colors. Why? A chemical reaction occurred when these UV sensitive beads were exposed to ultraviolet light.

Continue experimenting with the beads at home. Do the beads change color when light shines in a window? Rub some sunscreen on a couple of beads. Do they still change color? Place the beads under sunglasses. What happens? If you place the beads in water outside, is there still a color change? Can you make a person or an animal with your beads and pipe cleaner and then build a shelter that will protect him/her from UV rays? Do the UV beads change color on cloudy days too?

We traveled to the IT conference room to use black light flashlights. Black light is UV-A light. We used the flashlights on glow in the dark paper. As I walked around with a larger UV light, we noticed that some of the colors in our clothing glowed. Why?