Interactive Video

How We Get Our Skin Student Worksheet

Color
Before you begin, think about your skin. It covers your entire body! What questions do you
have about skin and skin color?

Why are there different types of skin colors?

What determines the color of our skin?
How can we obtain vitamin D?
What are the parts of the body involved in the reaction of creating vitamin D?

Watch the entire animation once through. Go through it once more, stopping at each stop point,
indicated by the white bars.

First Stop Point: What Is Skin?

Click on “learn more” to access interactive art and a short video about the functions of the
different skin layers and how vitamin D is synthesized.

1. Describe the primary function(s) for each of the skin layers named below.

Epidermis

The function of the epidermis is to protect the body from certain elements and to provide Vitamin D.

Dermis

The dermis contains lymph and blood vessels, hair follicles, sweat and oil glands, and nerve endings.
Its function is to nourish the epidermis with essentials such as oxygen and nutrients from the blood
and to regulate body temperature.

Hypodermis

To insulate the body, provide a protective padding around internal organs, and store energy.

2. Why is vitamin D important to our health?

Vitamin D is essential to one’s health because it is responsible for the regulation of calcium and
phosphorus in the body. It also plays a role in maintaining a proper bone structure.

3. What is the connection between skin, sunlight, and vitamin D?

The connection between these three are involved in the process of producing Vitamin D. The

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How We Get Our Skin Student Worksheet
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ultraviolet radiation that comes from the sun penetrates the skin and the reaction that starts within a
molecule, 7-dehydrocholesterol, goes through a process of conversion which results in Vitamin D and
directly flows into the bloodstream.

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How We Get Our Skin Student Worksheet
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4. You are a pediatrician and have determined that a young patient is at risk for rickets. Outline a
treatment you would recommend to the child’s parents and why you recommend that course of
action.

I would provide him/her oral supplements and maintain a daily calcium intake of at least 500 mg per
day. I would advise him/her to add certain foods to his/her diet to help maintain healthy vitamin D
levels such as salmon, sardines, egg yolks, and milk and yogurt.

Second Stop Point: What Are Skin Cells?

Go to the second stop point in the animation to learn about the types of skin cells in the epidermis
and why humans lost their hair.

5. What gives keratinocytes their name?

Their name comes from the fact that they contain the structural protein keratin.

6. Describe the life cycle of a keratinocyte. Where are the youngest keratinocytes in your skin
found? The oldest?

New keratinocytes are formed at the epidermis's base by dividing stem cells. They increase keratin
production and eventually stop dividing as they migrate to the top of the epidermis. The epidermis's
top layer is made up of densely packed dead keratinocytes that have lost their cell nucleus and other
organelles. This top layer is responsible for the majority of the skin's strong, waterproof barrier
function. These dead cells easily slough off and are replaced every 4 to 6 weeks by new keratinocytes
that have migrated from the bottom to the top of the epidermis.

7. What is the function of the layer of dead keratinocytes on the top of the epidermis?

The dead keratinocytes serve as a waterproof barrier function to the top layer.

8. What is the function of melanocytes?

They produce the pigment melanin.

9. How does a melanocyte’s shape relate to its function?

Its structure, long projections, is to deliver melanosomes to keratinocytes.

10. a. When did our human ancestors become mostly hairless?

7 million years ago.

b. What advantage did sweat glands and less body hair provide in our ancestors’
environment?

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The body needed to lose some of the heat that was expended during high cellular respiration. As a
result of sweat glands and less body hair, heat was effectively lost collagen the body to homeostatic
temperatures.

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Third Stop Point: What Is Melanin?

Move to the third stop point to learn about how melanin is made inside melanocytes and one of
the genes that controls skin color.

11. Fill in the blanks. Melanin is a p i g m e n t m e l a n i n that is produced in

organelles called Melanosomes in specialized cells called
Melanocytes.

12. What are the two primary types of melanin and how do they differ?

The two primary types of melanin are the pheomelanin and the eumelanin. The pheomelanin appears
as a reddish-yellow pigment, while the eumelanin comes in two varieties, brown and black.

13. Explain how the amount of eumelanin and number of melanosomes differ between a
person with lighter color skin and a person with darker color skin.

If there are a great number of melanosomes producing eumelanin, the person’s skin color shall appear
darker. Whereas, having a low number of melanosomes producing eumelanin, the person’s skin color
shall appear whiter.

14. Which type of melanin is produced by the version of the MC1R gene (i.e., the MC1R allele)
most prevalent among people of African ancestry?

The most common version of the MC1R gene found among the people of African ancestry was the
eumelanin, the brown-black pigment.

15. What can be inferred from the fact that there is little diversity in the form of MC1R gene
found among individuals from equatorial Africa?

The MC1R gene probably became common because it provides a survival and reproductive advantage
in the tropical environment.

Fourth Stop Point: How Does Melanin Protect Cells?

Visit the fourth stop point to learn about how melanin protects DNA from UV damage and how
mutations in DNA lead to cancer.

16. a. Name two molecules in the body that UV radiation can damage.

The two molecules in the body that UV radiation can damage are the DNA and folate.

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b. How does melanin protect these molecules from UV damage?

The melanin protects these molecules from UV damage by forming a supranuclear cap. It acts as a
shield to the DNA.

17. What are pyrimidine dimers, what causes them, and why are they dangerous?

Pyrimidine dimer is an intrastrand DNA cross-link, induced by exposure to ultraviolet light. This is
caused by the exposure of DNA to UVB radiation. These are dangerous because once the pyrimidine
dimers are not repaired, the cell would die because it cannot replicate or transcribe its DNA. In worse
case scenarios, it can lead to unregulated cell reproduction and possibly cancer.

18. How can pyrimidine dimers lead to cancer?

Pyrimidine dimers can lead to cancer by failure of the cell’s repair machinery to remove the
pyrimidine dimers and replace them with the appropriate nucleotides. If the wrong nucleotide is
introduced, the result will be in a mutation in the surviving cell.

Fifth Stop Point: How Does Sunlight Cause Tanning?

Go to the fifth stop point to learn about the different types of UV radiation and how they affect melanin
production.

19. Fill in the blanks. UV radiation has shorter wavelengths and higher energy than visible light and
infrared radiation.

20. What are the positive and negative effects of UVB exposure?

UVB exposure is necessary for producing vitamin D in the body, however it can also cause mutations in
the DNA and destroys folate circulating in the blood.

21. Explain how the relationship between skin color and UV radiation provides evidence that this
trait evolved by natural selection.

Different places in the world receive more or less UV radiation throughout the year. The more intense
the UV light, the darker the skin. The less intense the UV light, the lighter the skin.
22. What is the selective pressure for darker skin color? For lighter skin color?

The selective pressure for darker skin color is high intense amount of UV light, while lighter skin color
is low intense amount of UV light.

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23. Explain the difference between constitutive and facultative skin color.

The constitutive skin color is the skin color we are born with, on the other hand, the facultative skin
color is the altered color of skin that results from tanning and is temporary.

24. What causes skin to tan? What causes skin to sunburn?

Tanning is a response to DNA damage. Inflammation in the skin can stimulate increase pigmentation
therefore making more melanin. The causes of skin to sunburn is because of an inflammatory response
that happens in the skin causes the keratinocytes to undergo cell death and skin peeling occurs.

25. Your friend, who tans easily, argues that it’s great to get a tan because darker skin
pigmentation offers lots more protection from damaging UV radiation, so he’s keeping
himself safe. Would you agree? Explain.

I would disagree. Although darker skin offers more protection from damaging UV radiation, it can
decrease the synthetization of vitamin D which is essential to humans.

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26. Use arrows to connect the concept bubbles below, making a concept map. Be sure to label your
arrows with verbs or linking words, as shown in the example.

Skin
Skin Color
is made up
of

3 layers Determines
the

One of it Keratinocytes
is the

Epidermis Melanosomes
contains two
different cell types
Composed of
numerous produces
contains
Melanocytes
Melanin

7-dehydrocholesterol

Converts into
DNA
Vitamin D
UV radiation

Return to the questions you listed at the beginning. Using the information you learned in this
activity, answer any questions you can in the space below.
Different regions of the world receive more or less UV radiation throughout the year. In general, the closer to the
equator, the higher and more consistent the radiation level. The reason for this difference is the position of the sun
relative to Earth. Areas far from the equator receive less direct sunlight.

The factors that determine the color of our skin is the type of melanin, amount of melanin, and number of
melanosomes.

We obtain vitamin D through the influence of sunlight penetrating the skin which contains a molecule 7-
dehydrocholesterol.

The parts of the body involved in the process of creating vitamin D are the skin, liver, kidney, blood, and bones.

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