For Schools, Camps & Youth Programs
The UV index, taught simply — free classroom resources
When EPA retired its SunWise program in 2016, schools lost their go-to source for UV education — and thousands of school and health-department websites still link to pages that no longer exist. This page fills that gap: modern, free UV teaching materials built on live data. No signup, no ads, no cost.
A full-screen live UV display for your smartboard: today's UV for your town, kid-friendly advice for recess, and the day's peak. Tracker-free — no analytics, no cookies.
Open the display →The UV scale from 1 to 11+, with what each level means and what to do — designed to print on A4/Letter and hang by the door to the playground.
Open & print →How long until skin burns at today's UV? Students pick a skin type and see their real number — instant, personal, memorable.
Try it →Classroom activities by age group
Each morning for one week, check today's UV number for your town on the classroom display. Chart it with coloured blocks (green / yellow / orange / red). Friday question: on which days did we need hats? Why do the numbers change?
Look up today's hourly UV curve for your town and note the value at 9:00, 11:00, 13:00, 15:00 and 17:00. How many hours today is UV 3 or higher — the WHO threshold where protection is needed? Discussion: why does the peak fall around solar noon, and what does that mean for planning outdoor time?
Each student picks a city on a different continent and notes tomorrow's forecast UV. Next day: compare forecast to actual. Which cities were hardest to predict? Connect to latitude, season, ozone and cloud cover.
Why the UV index belongs in school
Most lifetime sun damage starts young, and repeated sunburns are associated with roughly double the later melanoma risk — and sunburn at any age increases skin-cancer risk — yet UV is invisible and doesn't correlate with temperature, which is exactly why children (and adults) misjudge it. The UV index makes the invisible visible with one number. A class that checks it daily for a week keeps the habit for life. Protection guidance in all our materials follows WHO conventions: protection from UV 3, extra caution from UV 8.
For webmasters & health departments
If your sun-safety page still links to the retired EPA SunWise site, you're welcome to point it here instead: uvindex.now/education/ — a stable, free, maintained destination. Questions or suggestions for materials? We genuinely answer: see the about page for contact.
Frequently asked questions
Is this really free?
Yes. No signup, no ads, no cost - for any school, camp or youth organization, anywhere. It's our contribution to keeping sun-safety education free and accessible.
Can we print and share these materials?
Yes - print the poster, copy the activities, link to any page. Attribution to uvindex.now is appreciated but not required.
Does the classroom display track students?
No. The live classroom display loads no analytics, sets no tracking cookies and shows no ads. It only fetches UV data.
What happened to EPA SunWise?
EPA retired the SunWise program in 2016 and transferred parts to NEEF. Many school and health-department websites still link to the old pages, which no longer work. These materials are an independent, modern replacement.
Which data do the tools use?
Live UV data from Open-Meteo, refreshed every 15 minutes, with WHO-based protection guidance - the same engine behind our UV checker for 420+ cities.