UV Defenders

Explore the good, the bad, and the ugly impacts of electromagnetic radiation. Engage in memorable physics activities using UV color changing beads!

This kit includes a full-color student worksheet and detailed teacher guide, with step-by-step instructions for five activities (plus extras!) designed to engage your student in electromagnetic radiation. The student experience has inquiry-based activities and assessments designed to enhance your student’s understanding of physics and the world around them.

Both teacher and student will be able to open the box and start within minutes, but the kit will provide over 15 hours of education and entertainment.

In this kit, the student will engage in these fun activities:

1. Explore light outside the visible spectrum.
2. Test methods of protection to determine how to best protect yourself from UV radiation.
3. Explore light as both a wave and a particle.
4. Discover a beneficial application of UV radiation.
5. Discover the other types of radiation on the electromagnetic spectrum.

Use this UV Defenders lab kit to answer questions such as:

• What is the electromagnetic spectrum?
• Are there other forms of light beyond visible light?
• How is light both a particle and a wave?
• Can UV radiation be both dangerous and beneficial to humans?

• The Light Trap
• Wave Wisdom

Interested in learning more? Check out our Student Workbook Sample and Teacher Guide Sample! 

• 1 Agar Powder
• 1 Bead Color Spectrum Sheet
• 1 Black Construction Paper
• 100 Color Changing Beads
• 1 Laser
• 1 Pack of Matches
• 2 Petri Dishes
• 1 Solar Eclipse Viewing Glasses
• 1 Sunscreen Packet
• 4 swab applicators
• 1 UV Black Light

On hand, you will want to have:

• 4 AA batteries
• Glass cup
• Microwave
• Oven mitts
• Permanent marker
• Scissors
• Sunglasses
• Sunscreen (personal brand preference)
• Tape
• Water

• Learning outcome: Explore the good, the bad, and the ugly impacts of electromagnetic radiation. Engage in memorable physics activities using UV color changing beads.
• NGSS science standards alignment
• HS-PS3-2 Develop and use models to illustrate that energy at the macroscopic scale can be accounted for as a combination of energy associated with the motions of particles (objects) and energy associated with the relative position of particles (objects).
• HS-PS4-1 Use mathematical representations to support a claim regarding relationships among the frequency, wavelength, and speed of waves traveling in various media.
• HS-PS4-3 Evaluate the claims, evidence, and reasoning behind the idea that electromagnetic radiation can be described either by a wave model or a particle model, and that for some situations one model is more useful than the other.
• HS-PS4-4 Evaluate the validity and reliability of claims in published materials of the effects that different frequencies of electromagnetic radiation have when absorbed by matter.