National Sunscreen Day (also known as “Don’t Fry Day”) happens on May 27 in 2020. It’s a perfect time to get in the habit. The day reminds us that the sun’s harmful UV rays pose threats to our skin — and our health.
Why not try the following Science Experiment to learn how sun cream protects your skin.
What you need:
What you do:
- spray the balm of your hand
- press it onto the paper before it dries
- set the paper out in the sun
Before:
How long you leave it out is up to you. Try to keep it for the length of time that you spend outside. We left ours out for two hours, the recommended time to go before reapplying.
After:
You can see the difference, the purple of the paper without sunscreen is much more faded. When you look at the very first picture in this post, you can see where the rocks with holding our paper down in the wind to get to a better idea of how much it faded.
What does sun damage look like?
When your skin gets damaged by the sun’s rays, it makes even more melanin to try to protect your skin from being damaged even more. That causes the skin to change color:
- Dark-skinned people usually turn darker brown, or tan, when they go in the sun.
- Light-skinned people usually turn more red, or burn, when they go in the sun.
Make sure that you talk about the importance of sunscreen and protecting yourself from the suns harmful rays.
