STEAM Inquiry with UV Beads

3 Min Read  •  STEAM Strategies and Resources

Looking for a quick, simple, and cost-effective way to bring STEAM and inquiry into your classroom? Try using this art and science experiment to explore ideas surrounding color, light reactions, and trying ways to block these reactions from happening (hello, problem-solving).

UV Detecting Beads

Have you seen these ultraviolet detecting beads? When exposed to UV rays, the beads change color; the stronger the rays, the more brilliant the color. Using these beads as a hook for an inquiry science kick-off to the school year gets students working through STEAM right away. And there are so many ways to build this into a larger unit.

uv beads

Image courtesy of TeacherSource

For example, after using the beads to explore why the colors change and what’s causing that reaction, students could test the effectiveness of sunscreen and sunglasses. They could then work on ways to help other students become aware of the dangers of the sun on our skin.

UV Beads STEAM Lesson Introduction

On Friday of the first week of school, explain the upcoming weekend’s homework assignment to the students. This may elicit a few groans until you explain that you have a “present” for them. Then, give each of them a UV detecting bead but don’t share what it is or what it does.

Explain that they may do as much or as little experimenting and observing as they want, but their job is to wear this special bead for the weekend. The only thing they may not do is place the bead near a heat source or cook it since it is plastic. Their mission:

1) to figure out what the bead does, and…

2) why the bead does this.

Then, give each student a piece of yarn or a pipe cleaner with a UV-detecting bead on it and have them tie it on like a bracelet.

The immediate reactions may be interesting. Typically, some students instantly make a hypothesis about what is going to happen, while others brainstorm ideas of experiments they’d like to do.

Don’t give any hints of the answer, even if a student happens to guess correctly. The fun part is hearing the reaction when a student happens to be standing next to a window and the bead changes color. It is usually quite a disruption, in the best way possible – they all start to hypothesize and try to find a way to make their bead change.

Sharing the Results

The following week (preferably Monday if you see your students every day), make a T-chart for students to share what they did over the weekend to get their bead color to change. In the chart, also add an area for the result and use this to help come to a conclusion about the 2 questions posed in the experiment. This would be a great lead-in to a lesson on the scientific method.

After the students share the results, explain how the beads work:

These beads contain pigments that change color when exposed to ultraviolet rays, which are invisible to us. Then explain that UV rays are the rays that cause sunburn. You can use this video to help share more details. This usually kicks off a brainstorming session of ways we can use the beads for more experiments.

When observing the beads, students can record data by noting the shade of the bead on a 5-point scale, by using a colored pencil to match the observed shade of the bead. This is a great time to introduce the art vocabulary word tint, and explain how a tint is the mixture of a color with white.

Students can make an anchor scale with a colored pencil prior to the experiments, and match the bead to the level of tint for recording purposes. As an extension, you could further experiment with mixing colored paints with white to create matching levels of tints, or adding proper amounts of water to watercolors to achieve the desired tint.

You can find more lesson plans here for using these beads. There are lessons for each grade level, as well as a video to see how the beads work. No matter what level, there’s a way to use this as a STEAM inquiry project with your students.