The Science of Sleep

This week I'm exploring sleep patterns - the science of why some folks are night owls while others are early risers. There's a lot more going on than I ever realized!

🦉 Literal Early Birds (and other animals):

It turns out, just about all animals - and even some bacteria - follow a basic 24-hour cycle (naturally tied to the day-night cycle of Earth's rotation), but there are interesting variations in the where and how of sleep for different species. A great hook to start talking about sleep in your elementary health or science classes is to discuss variations like the ones in this article. I'm not sure there's much cuter than otters holding paws while they sleep! 

🦉 Why Do We Sleep?

To start investigating sleep yourself, check out this interesting article from Johns Hopkins. If you're like me, you're heard that REM sleep is the most important part of the sleep cycle, but it turns out that non-REM sleep might be even more critical. There's a strong genetic component to sleep cycles, too, with hundreds of possible factors.

For your elementary classes, you can check out the National Sleep Foundation's Sleep for Kids site for kid-friendly info, cute games, and puzzles about sleep. It covers topics like how sleep works, how to fall asleep when you're struggling, and sleep traps to avoid. It's never too early to start working on good sleep habits!

🦉 Adaptations of Night Owls and Early Birds:

Ever wondered why some people love staying up late while others are morning people? It's partly due to our genes, and it may be caused by adaptations that improved survival in human populations. During this field study of the Hazda people, staggered sleep schedules meant that the entire adult group was only asleep at the same time for 18 minutes each night! The rest of the night, at least one person was awake to keep watch for threats.

If your class is talking about genetic variations like hair and eye color, why not talk about sleep cycles as well? There is often a stigma attached to having an unusual sleep pattern, but students should know that sleep cycles vary naturally. Stressing too much about getting to sleep is only going to make your sleep worse!

If you'd like to help students understand the development and advantages of these variations, here's a quick STEM challenge. Put students into groups and give them a scenario where the groups are trying to survive on an island full of predators. Working together, they should plan a sleep schedule for their group that reduces threats but allows everyone to get at least eight hours of sleep. (If you want to make it more challenging, they can also consider other activities like hunting, eating, and spending time together.) Once they reveal their schedules, share the study of the Hazda people and discuss the results. What would they change after hearing others' ideas and gathering more information? What does this tell us about the advantages of genetic variation?

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