• Question: How do you get sunburnt and suntanned?

    Asked by abunakawa to Hannah, Joanna, Joe, Luis, Vincent on 15 Jun 2016.
    • Photo: Luis Perez Calderon

      Luis Perez Calderon answered on 15 Jun 2016:

      This has to do with a substance in your skin called melanin, which gives colour to skin. When the sun hits your skin, you produce more melanin to try and avoid it damaging your body. This is how you get tanned People with lighter skin get burnt more easily because they have less melanin, and therefore less protection. People with darker skin get burnt too, but they have more melanin so there is less damage.

    • Photo: Hannah Grist

      Hannah Grist answered on 16 Jun 2016:

      You get sunburned when you go outside and get sun on your skin. Too much sunshine isn’t good for you, because it if it is really strong it damages all the cells in your skin. Your body stops it doing this by producing a chemical called melanin, that protects you and shows up as that nice brown colour on your skin. You might also see them as freckles :-).

      Sunburn is when you have been outside for too long, and your body couldn’t stop the sun damaging your skin. Your body reacts by trying to heal your skin (which causes it to be very red), and if it can’t heal, getting rid of the damaged bits (which is why you might find your skin peeling off).

    • Photo: Joe Nunez-Mino

      Joe Nunez-Mino answered on 22 Jun 2016:

      Our bodies arent designed to be out in the strong sun for long periods. Sunburn is a way for your body to tell you that you have damaged yourself and need to be more carefull while suntanning is a way for your body to defend itself from getting burnt in the future

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