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Biology of Skin Color

Total questions: 15

Worksheet time: 8mins

Name
Class
Date
1.

What does this image represent?

a)

weather conditions

b)

amount of ultraviolet light intensity

c)

skin color

d)

altitude

2.

Melanin protects

a)

Vitamin D breakdown

b)

Folate breakdown

c)

DNA mutations

d)

Bones from breakdown

3.

Traveling away from the equator, what happens in general to the amount of UV intensity?

a)

The intensity decreases.

b)

The intensity increases

c)

The intensity stays the same.

d)

It is impossible to predict.

4.

Who would be most at risk of developing rickets, a bone disease caused by insufficient calcium absorption?

a)

Children born to mothers with dark skin living far from the equator.

b)

Adults with dark skin who live close to the equator.

c)

Children born to mothers with light skin, living close to the equator.

d)

Adults with light skin who live close to the equator.

e)

Anyone who eats a diet that includes a lot of fish

5.
Your skin color is determined by your
a)
Genetic Inheritance 
b)
Environmental factors
c)
Culture
d)
None of the above
6.
What is melanin?
a)
A protein pigment that absorbs and reflects light
b)
A protein that is waterproof and tough
c)
A cell found in the epidermis
d)
A vitamin that helps you sleep
7.
What kind of cells create melanin?
a)
Keratinocyte
b)
Melanocyte
c)
Leukocyte
d)
Erythrocyte
8.
What are the two types of melanin?
a)
Light melanin and dark melanin
b)
Eumelanin and Dysmelanin
c)
Eumelanin and Pheomelanin
d)
All of the above
9.
Different tones of human skin color evolved 
a)
in response to varying levels of UV radiation in the environment
b)
Randomly and for no reason at all
10.
Melanin protects us from UV radiation by
a)
preventing our DNA from being scrambled
b)
preventing Folate in our blood stream to be broken down
c)
All of the these
d)
none of these
11.

What is Pheomelanin?

a)

A type of melanin that produces dark brown/black skin

b)

A type of melanin that produces reddish/yellow pigment

c)

An enzyme that controls skin color

d)

An enzyme that produces melanin

12.
If a person lives in an environment with low radiation what kind of skin color would be the best adapted
a)
Darker skin tones to increase production of Vitamin D Synthesis
b)
Darker skin tones to protect DNA and Folate
c)
Lighter Skin tones to increase production of Vitamin D
d)
Lighter Skin tones to protect DNA and Folate
13.

How does melanin protect cell's DNA from the damaging effects of Ultraviolet light?

a)

It relies on folate

b)

It doesn't you must use sunscreen

c)

it activates vitamin D3 production which takes care of that

d)

Forms a protective cap over the nucleus of skin cells

14.

Rickets is a disease that causes:

a)

Skin cancer

b)

weak bones in small children

c)

low folate levels

d)

MC1R genes to turn off

15.

What is the MC1R gene?

a)

Gene that codes for Vitamin D3 production

b)

Gene that codes for folate

c)

Gene that codes for a protein involved in eumelanin production

d)

Gene that codes for the production of melanin