It's all just skin deep. An anthropologist explains in a video how she used UV radiation data from NASA to come up with a theory on how human skin color has evolved over time. The skin has to be dark enough to block harmful UV radiation, but light enough to absorb the UVB radiation essential for Vitamin D production.

Concepts

skin, evolution, melanin, ultraviolet radiation, genes

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Additional Tags

science

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Instructional Ideas

• If possible, have a geneticist give a talk about skin color
  

Classroom Considerations

• It is helpful if learners have a basic familiarity of electromagnetic radiation
• Pupils should also have knowledge of genes

Pros

• Animations and diagrams help with understanding
• Thorough and clear explanations help make the concept easy to digest

Cons

• None