  As part of our program to study stellar photospheric and chromospheric
activity, we have examined several young solar type stars with activity levels
intermediate between the Sun and the very active RS CVn binaries. We have
analysed contemporaneous spectroscopic data obtained at Catania Observatory
(Serra La Nave station, Mt. Etna) and photometric data acquired in the
Stromgren bands with an automatic photometric telescope (APT) at Fairborn
Observatory (Arizona, USA). Surface inhomogeneities have been detected from the
rotational modulation of stellar brightness as well as from the modulation of
several photospheric line-depth ratios (LDRs). The presence of chromospheric
plage-like regions has been inferred from the rotational modulation of the
Halpha line equivalent width (EW_Halpha) evaluated with the spectral synthesis
method. The most relevant results are the strong correlation between the
brightness and temperature curves derived respectively from photometry and the
LDRs as well as the striking anti-correlation between brightness and Halpha
emission. This suggests a close spatial association of spots and plages, as
frequently observed for the largest sunspot groups (e.g., Catalano et al.
(1998)) and for some very active RS CVn systems (Catalano et al. 2002).
Moreover, a simple spot/plage model applied to the observed flux curves allows
a rough reconstruction of photospheric and chromospheric features of young main
sequence stars.
