Australian Broadcasting Corporation



Activity

Kids Sleep

Key Learning

Students will explore the science behind sleep and examine their own sleep patterns by conducting a sleep study and reflective journal.

The Australian Curriculum

|Science / Science Inquiry Skills / Questioning and predicting | |Mathematics / Statistics and Probability / Data representation and |

| | |interpretation |

|With guidance, pose questions to clarify practical problems or inform | | |

|a scientific investigation, and predict what the findings of | |Construct displays, including column graphs, dot plots and tables, |

|an investigation might be (ACSIS231) (ACSIS232) | |appropriate for data type, with and without the use of digital |

|[pic] | |technologies (ACMSP119) |

| | |[pic] |

|Science / Science Inquiry Skills / Processing and analysing data and | |Interpret and compare a range of data displays, including side-by-side|

|information | |column graphs for two categorical variables (ACMSP147) |

| | |[pic] |

|Construct and use a range of representations, | |Pose questions and collect categorical or numerical data by |

|including tables and graphs, to represent and describe | |observation or survey (ACMSP118) |

|observations, patterns or relationships in data using digital | |[pic] |

|technologies as appropriate(ACSIS090) (ACSIS107) | | |

|[pic] | | |

|Compare data with predictions and use as evidence in developing | | |

|explanations (ACSIS218)  (ACSIS221) | | |

|[pic] | | |

Discussion Questions

1. What’s the last thing you do before you go to bed? Discuss with another student.

2. What has a new study found about using electronic devices before going to bed?

3. The light emitted from electronic devices can affect how well we sleep. True or false?

4. When it gets dark, your brain clock decides it is sleep time and tells another part of your body to release what chemical?

5. Why do we need sleep?

6. If we don’t get enough sleep it can affect our...

a. Concentration

b. Memory

c. Learning

d. All of the above

7. What can we do to get a better night’s sleep?

8. Experts say that turning off screens at least an hour before going to bed is a good idea. True or false?

9. How much sleep do you think you need each day?

10. Conduct your own sleep study. Record how long you use electronic devices for before going to bed and how many hours of sleep you get each night. Examine your results.

Activities

|The science of sleep |

• After watching the BtN Kids Sleep story invite students to participate in a class discussion. Find out what your students know about the science behind sleep, what they learnt from the story and what questions they have about the topic. Hold a class survey using the following questions.

.

• Many activities we are not consciously aware of continue when we are at rest to keep our bodies going. All of these require energy. Ask students which of the following activities occur while we are asleep (they are all true, except exercising).

|Sleep study and reflective journal |

• Introduce students to the task of keeping a reflective journal on their sleep patterns and their use of technological devices before bedtime. The purpose of a reflective journal is an opportunity for students to write a personal account of events and experiences, and to then reflect on their own learning. Before starting the journal discuss with students the aim of the study.

• Students will record data in their journals on a daily basis over one week, using the following table.

|Sleep study and reflective journal |

Students can test how fast their reactions are as part of their daily study. Ask students to take part in this game and record their findings each day. Do the results vary depending on how much sleep they get?

Students will present their findings in a column graph. The number of hours of sleep will be compared against the number of hours spent using technology before bedtime.

Students will calculate the average time they spend asleep each night (using the data collected over the one week period).

The journal provides the opportunity for students to reflect on their own learning. Provide regular opportunities for students to write individual journal entries to reflect the following questions:

Invite students to volunteer to share their findings. Suggest that they could illustrate their ideas, and also include any questions they have about the work.

Further Investigation

How does having a regular sleeping routine benefit your physical and emotional health? Find out more about circadian rhythms and how to get into a good sleeping routine. Reach Out gives tips to help you sleep and what to do if you’re having trouble.

( Related Research Links

ABC News – Experts say exposure to artificial light from tablets is causing sleep disorders



Child and Youth Health – Sleep: are you getting enough?



CBBC – How well did you sleep last night?



CBBC – Sleep study shows a lack of sleep affects our genes



Behind the News – Sleep Study



BBC News – How much sleep does a child need?



Behind the News – Teen Sleep



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Saturday

Tuesday

Episode 20

30th July 2013

•

Monday

•

Friday

Thursday

Time woke up

Wednesday

Time went to sleep

Sunday

No. of hours asleep

Time spent using technology before bedtime

Purpose of using technology before bedtime

Reflective journal writing

• What happened during this sleep study?

• How did I think and feel about it?

• What was good and bad about it?

• What did I learn?

• What else could I have done?

• What would I do differently next time?

• What does this graph tell you about your sleep patterns when using technology before bedtime?

• Do you think you sleep better when you don’t use technological devices before bedtime?

• Compare the amount of sleep you get to someone else in the class.

• Compare the amount of sleep you get to someone else in the class. Compare the results against the recommended sleep required for kids your age.

Survey questions

• Why do we sleep?

• How does lack of sleep make you feel?

• How much sleep do you think you need each day?

• Why is it important for kids to get enough sleep?

• How does melatonin work?

• Suggest good and bad activities to do before bedtime.

•

Maintaining body temperature

Heart beating

Energy is restored

Filtering of blood

Brain working

Exercising

Digesting food

Breathing

Tissue growth and repair

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