Sleep and Circadian Rhythms
Sleep patterns, circadian rhythm, biological clock, external triggers/cues, effects of lack of sleep, animal/plant behavior(s), Sun, Earth's rotation, day/night, seasons, sleep and microgravity
-
Modeling Day and Night
Lesson
Students make a “mini-globe” to investigate the causes of day and night on Earth.
-
Reason for the Seasons
Lesson
Students plot the path of the sun’s apparent movement across the sky on two days, two or three months apart, and learn why Earth experiences different seasons.
-
Using a Sundial
Lesson
Students make a sundial (shadow clock) and use it to tell time.
-
Living Clocks
Lesson
Students learn that some behaviors and functions of living organisms vary predictably every 24 hours, and that many life functions are governed by internal "clocks."
-
Sleep Patterns
Lesson
Students collect information about their own sleep cycles and use a fraction wheel to examine their data.
-
Investigating Sleep
Lesson
Students investigate how changes in their bedtime impact their own sleep patterns.
-
Sleeping in Space
Lesson
Students read about how astronauts sleep in space, write about unusual places in which they have slept, and discuss times they have had difficulty sleeping.
-
Sleep: Assessment
Lesson
Summative assessment activity in which students review concepts about sleep and daily cycles, and write illustrated, sleep-related poems.