BoomeranG AT H O M E E D I T I O N
YOUR PLACE FOR FUN, GAMES & MORE.
ALL ABOUT SLEEP EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT SLEEP!
ISSUE #9 • January 2021
I wanna read a relaxing book. THE BOOKSHELF: PAGE 14
ILLUSTRATED BY: PENELOPE DULLAGHAN
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IN THIS ISSUE 04 SERIOUSLY, WHY DO I HAVE TO GO TO BED?
Sleep is important for growing, thinking and your mood!
06 SLEEP TROUBLES Can’t sleep? Here are some things to do to catch your ZZZs.
08 BIG SLEEP: THE SECRETS OF HIBERNATION
How learning about hibernation may be the key to traveling in deep space and surviving a medical emergency.
12 WEIRD SLEEP Animals that sleep with one eye open, birds snoozing in flight … weird!
13 FAMOUS NAPPERS These folks earned their spot in history books but also were famous for their mad napping skills.
PLUS: 06 A BOOMERANG EXCLUSIVE: YOGA YOURSELF TO SLEEP 14 ACTIVITY! WEIRD SLEEP WORD SEARCH 14 BOOKSHELF 15 ACTIVITY! SLEEP LOG
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Seriously, Why Do I Have to Go to Bed?
WHAT SLEEP IS AND WHY ALL KIDS (AND ADULTS) NEED IT
DON’T FORGET! MOST KIDS BETWEEN THE AGES OF 5 AND 12 NEED 10 TO 11 HOURS OF SLEEP EACH NIGHT. Sleep is more important than you may think. Can you think of a time when you didn’t get enough sleep? That heavy, groggy feeling is awful and when you feel that way, you’re not at your best. So, if you’re not too tired, let’s talk about sleep.
WHY YOU NEED SLEEP The average kid has a busy day. There’s school, taking care of your pets, running around with friends, going to sports practice or other activities and doing your homework. By the end of the day, your body needs a break. Sleep allows your body to rest for the next day.
F U N FA C T S : On average, people sleep eight hours a day … that totals 233,600 hours of sleep by the time you’re 80 years old. That’s the same as sleeping 26.67 years! People dream about four to five times each night. That is the same as 116,800 to 146,000 dreams by the time you’re 80 years old!
REVIEWED BY: RUPAL CHRISTINE GUPTA, MD KIDSHEALTH.ORG
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Everything that lives needs sleep to survive. Even your dog or cat curls up for naps. Animals sleep for the same reason you do: to give your body a tiny vacation.
YOUR BRAIN NEEDS ZZZZZS Your body and your brain need sleep. Though no one is exactly sure what work the brain does when you’re sleeping, some scientists think that it sorts through and stores information, replaces chemicals and solves problems while you snooze. Most kids between the ages of 5 and 12 get about 9.5 hours a night, but experts agree that most need 10 or 11 hours each night. Sleep is an individual thing, and some kids need more than others. When your body doesn’t have enough hours of rest, you may feel tired or cranky, or you may be unable to think clearly. You might have a hard time following directions, or you might argue with a friend over something really silly. A school assignment that’s normally easy may feel impossible, or you may feel clumsy playing your favorite sport or instrument. One more reason to get enough sleep: If you don’t, you may not grow as well. That’s right, researchers believe too little sleep can affect growth and your immune system, which keeps you from getting sick.
THE STAGES OF SLEEP
STAGE 4
As you drift off to sleep, it doesn’t
This is the deepest sleep yet. It’s very
DREAM A LITTLE DREAM
seem like much is happening: The
hard to wake up from this stage of
You’re walking down the street
room gets fuzzy, and your eyelids feel
sleep, and if you do wake up, you’re
and you pass a monkey eating a
heavier and heavier. But what goes
sure to be out of it and confused for
doughnut. Suddenly, you’re in school.
on next? A lot! Your brain swings into
at least a few minutes. Like they do in
But why does your teacher have such
action, telling your body how to sleep.
stage 3, some people may sleepwalk
big teeth?
There are five stages in sleep.
or talk in their sleep when going from
STAGE 1
stage 4 to a lighter stage of sleep.
No, this isn’t a scene from a scary movie. It’s a dream!
In this stage of light sleep, your body
R.E.M.
starts to feel a bit drowsy. You can
R.E.M. stands for rapid eye movement.
People dream during R.E.M. sleep, the
still be woken up easily during this
Even though the muscles in the rest
period that follows the deepest stage
stage. For example, if your sister
of your body are totally relaxed in
of sleep. Everybody has dreams,
pokes you or you hear a car horn
this stage, your eyeballs move back
although some people have a tough
outside, you’ll probably wake up
and forth very quickly beneath your
time remembering them. What stage
right away.
eyelids. The R.E.M. stage is when your
you’re in when you wake up can affect
heart beats faster and your breathing
whether you can remember your
is less regular. This is also the stage
dreams. If you wake up during R.E.M.
when people dream!
sleep, you might remember everything
STAGE 2 After a little while, you enter stage 2, which is a slightly deeper sleep.
about your dream. If you wake up
Your brain gives the signal for your
While you’re asleep, you repeat
during another stage of sleep, you
muscles to relax. It also tells your
stages 2, 3, 4, and R.E.M. about every
might not remember a thing.
heart to beat a little slower and your
90 minutes until you wake up in the
breathing to slow down. Even your
morning. For most kids, that’s about
No one knows for sure why people
body temperature drops a bit.
four or five times a night. Who said
dream. Many scientists think that
sleep was boring?
dreams are linked to how our brains
STAGE 3
organize memories and emotions.
Stage 3 sleep is even deeper, also
Some scientists think that dreams
called slow-wave sleep. Your brain
are your brain’s way of making sense
sends a message to your blood
of what happened during the day.
pressure to get lower. Your body isn’t
Others think that dreams allow your
sensitive to the temperature of the
brain to sort through the events of
air around you, which means you
the day, storing the important stuff
won’t notice if it’s a little hot or cold
and getting rid of the junk. Some
in your room. It’s much harder to be
scientists say that dreams are a
awakened when you’re in this stage,
clue to what you’re worried about or
but some people may sleepwalk or
thinking about.
talk in their sleep at this point. Sleep is one of the most important things a kid can do to stay healthy, alert and kind. Your body and your brain need 10 to 11 hours every night to grow and function properly. And it’s the chance you get to visit dreamland. It’s NEVER boring!
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SLEEP TROUBLES CAN’T SLEEP? HERE ARE SOME THINGS TO DO TO CATCH YOUR ZZZS. REVIEWED BY: MARY L. GAVIN, MD KIDSHEALTH.ORG Sometimes going to sleep can seem boring. There’s so much more you want to do. But if you’ve ever had too little sleep, you know that you don’t feel very well when you’re not rested. Some kids have trouble falling asleep on a regular basis; this is sometimes called insomnia. Let’s talk about what to do if that happens to you.
BEDTIME FEARS For kids, feeling scared or worried at bedtime is one of the main reasons for having trouble falling asleep. A kid might be afraid of the dark or might not like being alone. If a kid has a good imagination, he or she might hear a noise at night and fear the worst, even when it’s just the family cat walking down the hall. Have you experienced such nighttime fears? As you get older, these fears usually fade. Until they do, make sure your room makes you feel relaxed and peaceful. Sit on your bed and look around the room. Are there things you see that make you feel good? If not, add some. Display some family photos or other pictures that make you happy. You might even create a mobile to hang over your bed.
NIGHTMARES Have you had any nightmares lately? Sometimes it’s hard to fall asleep when you’re afraid of having a scary dream that feels way too real. If the fear of nightmares keeps you awake, try talking to your mom or dad. Talking about the nightmares (and even drawing pictures of them) can help you stop having them. By the way, kids have many more bad dreams when they watch scary or violent TV shows or movies or read scary books or stories before bedtime. Instead of doing those things, try thinking good thoughts before bed. Imagine a favorite place or activity or think of all the people who care about you. Reading a peaceful book before bed (your parent can read to you or you can read to yourself) or playing soothing music can help you have sweet dreams.
WORRY AND STRESS Insomnia also can happen when you’re worried about things. It’s easy to feel stressed when you have tests at school, after-school activities, team sports and chores around the house. If you start feeling overwhelmed — like it’s all just too much — speak up. Your mom or dad can help you put some balance in your schedule. It may mean cutting out some activities so you have more free time.
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BOOMERANG EXCLUSIVE: YOGA YOURSELF TO SLEEP CLICK TO PLAY
SLEEP TIPS
Because so many people get insomnia, a lot of research has been done on how to beat it. Lucky for you, right? Not all of these tips work for everyone, but one or two might help you: •
Write in a journal before you go to bed. This practice clears your mind so you won’t have all those thoughts crowding your brain when you’re trying to sleep.
• Sleep in a dark, comfortable room. Light signals your body that it’s time to be awake, so you want to avoid it at night. But if you are really afraid of the dark, it’s OK to try a dim night-light. And being hot and sweaty or shivering from the cold can easily keep you up.
BIG CHANGES A major change in your life or daily routine can easily cause sleep problems. Changes like divorce, death, illness or moving to a new town can affect your ability to sleep through the night. During a difficult time, it helps if you feel safe. Take a comforting object to bed with you, like a blanket a relative made for you or a favorite stuffed animal. It might take awhile to feel better, so talk with your mom or dad about what’s bothering you. Even if the problem isn’t solved, just talking it out can help you sleep easier.
FEELING UNCOMFORTABLE If you feel too hot, too cold, hungry, or crowded, you won’t get to sleep like you should. Prevent this by creating sleep-friendly bedtime space: •
Make sure your bed is ready for sleep and relaxing — not so jammed with toys and stuffed animals that there’s no room for you.
•
Turn on a fan if you’re warm or pull on some socks if you’re cold.
•
Have a regular, calming routine before bedtime, like taking a warm bath or reading.
GETTING HELP FOR SLEEP WOES Most of the time, talking with a parent is all you need to do to handle a sleep problem. Your mom or dad can help you improve your bedtime routine and help you be patient while you develop new sleep habits. In some cases, these steps aren’t enough. If a kid has really tough sleep problems, he or she might need extra help. That could mean talking to a counselor or psychologist about stress or sadness the kid is feeling. If the kid isn’t really worried about anything, uncomfortable, afraid or having nightmares but still can’t sleep, he or she could have a sleep problem. The answer might be to see a doctor who’s a specialist in sleep. Some hospitals even have sleep labs, where patients come in and go to sleep so doctors can monitor their sleep and see what might be wrong.
•
Don’t sleep with a pet. This can be a tough habit to break, but your lovable dog or cat could be keeping you awake. As your pet cozies up to you or makes noise, it could wake you from a peaceful sleep. Try sleeping without your pet for a couple nights to see if you sleep better that way.
• Don’t drink any caffeinated beverages (like soda or iced tea) after about 3:00 in the afternoon. Caffeine is a stimulant and might keep you awake. •
Don’t exercise at night. Keep your exercise to earlier in the day — never within a couple hours of when you go to sleep.
• Once you’re lying in bed, try a peaceful mind exercise. For instance, count backward from 100 with your eyes closed. By the time you get to 10 (yawn) we hope you’ll feel very sleepy. And by 5, we hope you’ll feel yourself drifting off ... 4, 3, 2, 1, ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
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hibernation
Scientists study how animals hibernate and how doing so might benefit people. BY: BETHANY BROOKSHIRE SCIENCE NEWS FOR STUDENTS
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SECRETS OF THE BIG SLEEP In the far north, well above the Arctic Circle in Alaska, ground squirrels are curled into furry little balls within burrows deep underground. If you saw one, you might think it was dead. The squirrel is as cold as ice, literally. Its body temperature is 28° Fahrenheit (-2° Celsius). Its heart beats only once every 15 seconds. Its breathing stops for minutes at a time.
It’s not dead, of course, just hibernating. But spring is on its way to Alaska. As the days lengthen and the surrounding ground warms, the Arctic ground squirrel will warm, too. At first, the increase will be almost too small to notice. “You see them begin to breathe a little more quickly, see their heart rate speed up,” says Brian Barnes. He’s a zoologist — someone who studies animals — at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks (UAF). “As they get up to 50°F to 68°F (10°C to 20°C), you see them shivering quite violently,” he notes, “just as we shiver.” This shivering is a type of thermogenesis, a way to create heat. Once their bodies rise above 86°F (30°C), he says, “they wake up, groom themselves, stretch and scratch.” A squirrel that looked near the grave a few hours before now looks very much alive. Arctic ground squirrels are among the world’s coolest hibernators. Chilling out for months at a time lets them thrive in this frigid climate where food is scarce. By studying how these and other mammals hibernate, scientists hope to answer some big questions. Among them: How do these animals go from warm to cold and back again undamaged? And might people ever do the same?
The ability to chill out could help humans survive brain injuries and heart attacks. Hibernation might even be part of our ticket to Mars, if only we could figure out how to do it.
SUPER COOL SQUIRRELS Hibernation is a state of long-term torpor, a state of inactivity. When an animal goes into torpor, its activity level takes a dive. Its body temperature drops. The animal also slows its metabolism, the chemical reactions happening in all of its cells that keep the animal alive. Some animals might go torpid for a day. Or two. Or three. When torpor lasts longer than just a few days, scientists call it hibernation. Many people think hibernation occurs because it’s cold. But it’s not just a winter thing. “The purpose of hibernation is energy conservation,” explains Kelly Drew. She’s a UAF neuroscientist (someone who studies the brain). Cooling down is a consequence of saving energy, she says, like “turning down a pilot light or resetting a thermostat.” Cooling down might sound easy. But preparing for it is hard work. “These guys basically eat all fall,” notes Sarah Rice, a UAF graduate student in neuroscience in Drew’s laboratory. With all that eating, the squirrels get fat — so fat they can double in size! The males also collect berries, seeds, mushrooms and leaves and store them in their burrows. As fall approaches, the squirrels’ brains begin to release large amounts of a chemical messenger. The scientists still don’t know exactly which chemical it is. Eventually, however, it enters a “docking” molecule in a cell that helps relay messages. Called the adenosine (Ah-DEN-oh-seen) A1 receptor, it’s the same one that people try to block by drinking coffee. Doing so helps keep us awake. But when the right chemical messenger enters, like a key, it unlocks the opposite effect:
sleepiness. By August or September, the squirrels settle into their burrows, and their body temperatures and metabolisms begin to drop. In time, these animals fall into hibernation. Most of their body functions stop. They don’t pee or poop. They won’t drink or eat. Cells in their brains begin to retract their connecting parts. Their blood flow drops by as much as 90%, depriving their bodies of oxygen. If blood flow dropped by the same amount in people, we would be dead in minutes. But Arctic squirrels do it year after year. “These small hibernators can survive having their brains essentially turned off at these low temperatures,” Barnes says. By turning off so many other bodily functions, the squirrels drop their metabolic rate by up to 90%. That saves a huge amount of energy, which means they need fewer calories to survive. That’s one way they get by without eating throughout this period. These animals won’t emerge from their burrows until April. But a hibernating squirrel doesn’t spend the whole winter motionless and cold. “The weird thing about hibernation is they have this rhythmic arousal on a very regular schedule,” Rice says. “Depending on the squirrel, it can be every 14 to 21 days. They rouse, make immune cells and gain normal brain function.” During these awakenings, their bodies shiver their way back to around 98.6°F (37°C). Now the animals will bumble around, stretch, roll over … then go back to sleep. After about a day, their body temperatures will again plummet. This makes them torpid and resume hibernation. Right now, Drew’s lab is trying to find out what temporarily arouses the hibernating the squirrels. Because if scientists could control whether a squirrel aroused or not, Drew explains, they might be able to figure out what makes the rhythmic arousals so important. Boomerang
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KEEPING BEAR BONES BULKY Squirrels aren’t the only mammals that take a timeout in winter. Black bears spend six months of the year “denning” — curled up without eating, drinking or peeing. Oh, and the bears develop an anal plug. Called a tappen, it’s made out of hard fibrous material. Its purpose? To keep any poop in, and other things (like, um, bugs) out during the long rest period. As bears hibernate, their metabolism can slow by up to half. Unlike ground squirrels, however, bears’ body temperature stays around 86°F (30°C). Because bears stay relatively warm, some scientists question if they truly hibernate. Barnes, however, has no doubts that bears hibernate. “They get fat and seclude themselves away. They do drop their metabolism. It’s the only way you can get away without eating,” he explains. They’re so big and well-insulated, he notes, that they can slow their metabolism enough to drop their energy use by 75%. For six months, these bears barely move. “They are able to stay [lying down] for weeks at a time,” Barnes observes. “They do move every couple of days.” For instance, they may roll over to their other side. If people remained this still for weeks or months, their bones would waste away, or atrophy (AA-troh-fee). But bears trundle out of their dens in spring none the worse for that long rest. How do they do it? Bones might seem very solid, but the tissue within them is always being replaced. Older bone is broken down by osteoclasts (OS-tee-oh-klasts), which are cells that can disintegrate and absorb bone tissue. Cells called osteoblasts build new bone.
POWER WORDS HIBERNATION A state of inactivity that some animals enter to save energy at certain times of year. Bears and bats, for example, may hibernate through the winter. During this time, the animal does not move very much, and the use of energy by its body slows down. This eliminates the need to feed for months at a time.
DEN A place where large mammals safely rest, undisturbed. Their refuge.
MAMMAL A warm-blooded animal distinguished by the possession of hair or fur, the secretion of milk by females for feeding the young, and (typically) the bearing of live young.
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When people don’t move for long periods, their osteoblasts work more slowly, and their osteoclasts work faster. This weakens bones. Hibernating bears decrease many of their physical functions, but bone is worth preserving. Barnes’ lab has shown that genes, the molecules that control a cell’s actions, help boost osteoblast activity in hibernating bears. At the same time, genes that help form osteoclasts slow down. This helps keep a bear’s bones solid until spring. “We don’t know how a bear’s skeleton is able to do this,” Barnes says. But understanding this might help scientists fight human diseases such as osteoporosis (when bones become thin, weaken and turn brittle).
THE TROUBLE WITH TENRECS Ground squirrels chill out, and bears don’t move for months. But for a really strange hibernator, meet a tenrec or two. These mammals are native to Madagascar and have dispersed and evolved. “There’s a whole bunch of variation” among these animals, observes Frank van Breukelen. This biologist studies tenrecs at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas. “Some look like hedgehogs, some like rats, mice, otters. Some look like space aliens!” Certain of their species live in trees; others live on the ground. Some tenrecs even live part time in water. Different species of tenrec come in different sizes. Some types are less than 2 inches (around 5 centimeters), others around six times that size.
These mammals have another odd feature: They are curiously unconcerned about holding their body temperature constant. The human body tries to hold its temperature to within a couple of degrees of 98.6°F (37°C), notes Sandy Martin, who studies hibernation at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Aurora. Tenrecs, in contrast, want their body temperatures around 89°F to 91°F (32C or 33°C). But they don’t seem at all bothered if it goes up or down by some 5°. If humans did the same, our temperatures would fluctuate wildly between 89°F and 107°F (32°C and 42°C), putting us at constant risk of death. This relaxed attitude toward body temperature extends to how tenrecs hibernate. They may go into torpor at body temperatures that seem quite high, up to 82°F (28°C). But they also can be active at body temperatures as low as 54°F (12°C). At that temperature, the human body would be clinically dead. How do tenrecs manage this? Nobody knows. But van Breukelen is determined to find out. To understand hibernation, scientists should study more than just ground squirrels, he argues. “It’s sort of like saying if you want to study human performance, you should look at Usain Bolt,” he says. (Usain Bolt is a sprinter from Jamaica who clocked in at 27.33 mph, making him the fastest man in the world.) Van Breukelen likens tenrecs, in contrast, as the Homer Simpson of the hibernation world. “They’re not good at it, but it works.” By studying how tenrecs hibernate — and what they might have in common with ground squirrels — he hopes to figure out what allows certain mammals to hibernate.
HIBERNATION AT THE BEDSIDE AND BEYOND The ability of a ground squirrel, a bear or a tenrec to hibernate might seem like nothing more than a weird biological quirk. But that quirk has given these species huge survival benefits of which scientists like Drew hope to take advantage. By finding out what makes these animals so resilient, Drew hopes to be able to transfer that quality to people. For example, “A lot of people thought it was something special about the hibernating state,” Drew says about the squirrels. But scientists now know that a dramatic cooldown helps protect them during periods of torpor when their blood-oxygen levels plummet. People, like squirrels, might also benefit from chilling out. When blood flow to the heart stops, a person can develop a heart attack. That’s where the heart muscle stops pumping blood, starving some tissues of enough oxygen that they die. The victim might even end up in a coma. But keeping the patient’s body temperature cooler than normal while in a coma — between 90°F to 97°F (32°C and 36°C) — might improve their recovery. When doctors cool a patient slightly this way, it’s called targeted therapeutic hypothermia. In stroke patients, blood flow is cut off to a part of the brain. Drew hopes that cooling those patients might help them as well. But that, she says, is “still in the research stage.” There are many other times when blood flow to the heart and brain drops. Anytime someone has heart or brain surgery, Martin says, blood flow gets interrupted, and cells may suffer. Cooling the patient might help avoid extra damage. And hospitals are not the only place where hibernation might benefit people. Drew is working with a team at SpaceWorks Enterprises to find ways to help people hibernate … in space.
A KEY TO SPACE TRAVEL? “Everyone thinks it’s going to be the only way to get humans into deep space,” Martin says of hibernation. “The problems of maintaining humans in their normal active state [in space] are huge.” Space travelers would need to eat and drink. They’d make waste and have to put it somewhere. Without gravity, people in space for long periods of time would see their bones and muscles waste away. And if a small group of space travelers were stuck in close quarters for months or even years, Martin worries about another risk: them getting on each other’s nerves! If astronauts could, instead, be coaxed into torpor, Martin says, “then all these problems go away.” Astronauts wouldn’t eat, drink or produce waste. If they could den like bears, they might not lose muscle and bone mass. They wouldn’t bug each other, either. The idea of hibernating during space travel is so trendy that it shows up in blockbuster movies such as 2016’s Passengers. But if scientists succeed in triggering astronauts to hibernate, Martin says, people back home would likely also benefit. When it comes to human hibernation, “I would argue space might be the least important,” she says. Why? Few of us will ever leave planet Earth. Yet for even regular surgeries, she suspects, inducing torpor “could be extremely useful to lower body temperature and metabolic rate [and help] in everyday medicine.” “Certainly, in routine surgeries it could be extremely useful to lower body temp and metabolic rate,” she says. In the future, she suspects, cooling patients may turn out to have many benefits in everyday medicine. But there’s one big catch. “We don’t have the secret that would allow me to make you hibernate,” Martin points out. Still, with all the benefits it might have for health and human space travel, researchers will definitely keep looking for ways to offer humans the chance to hibernate, too. Boomerang
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BY: JESSICA MARSHALL SCIENCE NEWS FOR KIDS
ANIMALS THAT SLEEP WITH ONE EYE OPEN, BIRDS SNOOZING IN FLIGHT … WEIRD! At first, it may seem like a treat to stay up late. But the next day will be no picnic. There’ll be yawning, heavy limbs and a cranky attitude. At times like these, the desire to sleep can feel overwhelming. And it should. Growing kids need sleep, as do people of all ages. Indeed, research shows that health and safety both suffer when we try to get by with too little shut eye. It’s fortunate that our bodies do such a good job of alerting us when it’s time to hit the sack. Like people, other animals also take time to rest. You’ve probably seen a lion dozing at the zoo or maybe watched your dog snooze away, curled up in its bed. In fact, sleep is a necessity for every animal that’s ever been studied. This includes whales, octopuses — even fruit flies. How long animals slumber, though, varies widely. Elephants and giraffes sleep only about two to four hours a day, while bats and opossums may nod off for up to 20 hours. By studying similarities and differences in when and how long various animals sleep, researchers hope to better understand why the need for rest
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is critical to creatures throughout the animal kingdom. For instance, dolphins and whales experience sleep with just half of their brain dozing — and one eye closed — at a time. Keeping partly alert may be one way that these mammals protect themselves in the open ocean, says Jerome Siegel, who studies slumber in animals at the University of California, Los Angeles. “They have no safe place to sleep!” Ducks do something similar. When sleeping together, the birds on the edge of the group slumber with the outside eye open and half of their brain awake, presumably to keep watch while the other half of their brain snoozes. The fact that all animals make time for sleeping, even under potentially dangerous circumstances, suggests that sleep must serve a crucial function. And indeed, some evidence suggests that sleep is essential for learning and forming permanent memories. But sleep may also be primarily a way for animals to save energy and stay out of harm’s way, Siegel asserts. This may help explain why meat-eating critters sleep more than herbivores, which are animals that dine solely on plants. Herbivores like cows and zebras need to spend more time searching for and grazing on food than do meat eaters like lions and other big cats. A lion that has just fed on an antelope won’t eat again for several days. So, a big cat might be better off snoozing for a spell after it eats rather than prowling around and risking injury. So, next time you stay up late and feel the need to take a snooze in the afternoon, know you’re in good company with some cats, bats and elephants.
FA M O U S N A P P E R S Margaret Thatcher Often referred to as “The Iron Lady," the renowned British prime minister was known for working 20-hour days serving her country. To ensure she was running on all cylinders, Thatcher would take short snooze breaks during the day to make up for her less-thanrestful nights. Thomas Edison Similar to Thatcher, Edison slept only three to four hours a night. Publicly, he went as far as to imply sleeping any more than that as a sign of laziness. But, the famous inventor was less vocal about the fact that he often napped for two to three hours at a time during the day. Kind of ironic for the guy who invented the light bulb and forever altered our circadian rhythm. Salvador Dali Perhaps the most innovative of our famous nappers, quirky artist Salvador Dali took afternoon naps that were designed to last no longer than a single second. To perfect his “micro nap," Dali would sit in a chair with a hefty metal key pressed between his thumb and forefinger. The moment he fell asleep, the key would fall from his fingers and awaken him. Dali believed the short nap “revivified” — no, that’s not a real word! — both his mind and body. John F. Kennedy. The beloved president of the United States was known for taking his lunch in bed before settling down for a midday nap, which typically lasted between one to two hours. It is also said that his wife, Jackie Kennedy, would join him for the nap every day, often clearing her schedule or leaving engagements early to accommodate.
Eleanor Roosevelt Speaking of first ladies, Eleanor Roosevelt was a famous napper in her own right. She would often take short naps prior to public speaking engagements to boost her energy and reinvigorate her mind. Winston Churchill After an early afternoon game of cards with his wife, Clementine, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill would climb into bed for a two-hour-long nap every day. Many say that Churchill chose to work third shift, starting his most important work around 11 p.m. and continuing well into the night and early morning. Churchill even kept a bed in the Houses of Parliament to make sure he never missed his daily nap. Leonardo da Vinci Like many of our other famous nappers, da Vinci had a very irregular sleeping pattern of taking naps throughout the day and sleeping less hours at night. The Renaissance man would take 15-minute naps every four hours. Albert Einstein What if you could think like Einstein? Your IQ may not be off the charts, but when it comes to naps, you, too, can be a genius. Similar to Dali, Einstein believed in the power of the micro nap. He would sit in his chair and hold a pencil or a spoon as he dozed off. Unlike most daytime nappers, though, Einstein got plenty of rest at night as well, regularly sleeping for at least 10 hours.
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WORD SEARCH
BOOMERANG BOOKSHELF
W EIR D SLEEP
FIND THE WORDS & ANIMALS ASSOCIATED WITH STRANGE SLEEP HABITS Antelope
Slumber
Platypus
Predator
Reptile
Memory
Snoozing
Birds
Giraffes
S M H X R M E M O R Y U B W R 14
B L A R E H A R B U Z O A W S
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Whale
I B S P P H W H A L E G F I L
R S N R T O L C N S G I O S U
D G O E I U W H A L E R X H M
S U O D L H A P M C T A N U B
E E Z A E P G N Q R C F R T E
E P I T D L P H T M P F R E R
S L N O S R P B P E C E R Y J
T A G R I I A T P J L S V E H
U T F Z K Z M A P B U O R I J
U Y R R T H W O T Q V T P R U
D P X Z I K T L L M N G I E Y
W U V Q O E N U P Z A C I V X
Y S H D P R F Z U F E K H D M
RELAXED READING = PLEASANT DREAMING THE GIRL WHO DRANK THE MOON BY KELLY BARNHILL TALES OF A FOURTH GRADE NOTHING BY JUDY BLUME MAYBE BY KOBI YAMADA THE THING ABOUT JELLYFISH BY ALI BENJAMIN MY SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN BY JEAN CRAIGHEAD GEORGE THE GIVER BY LOIS LOWRY
WHAT DO YOU DREAM ABOUT? KEEP A “SLOG”… A SLEEP LOG! If you ever wake up and think, “WOW, that was a crazy dream!” but you forget about it by the time you pour the milk on your Cheerios™, you might want to keep a journal of your dreams, or a SLOG (Sleep Log). Just place a notebook beside your bed and take a few minutes right after you wake up each morning to write some notes about what you dreamed. Some things to think about:
1.
Are your dreams in color?
2. Do you have a sense of time in your dream? 3. What emotions did you have during your dream? 4.
How many different dreams can you remember in one night?
5. Do the same people, events or places reoccur in different dreams? 6.
Do events that happened during the day appear in your dreams?
7. If you think about something before going to sleep, does this “something” appear in your dreams? 8.
Does watching a movie or a TV show before bed influence what you dream about?
9.
Does eating certain foods influence what you dream about?
10. Does your mood affect what you dream about? If you are happy, do you dream about different things than if you were sad? 11. Are dreams on weekdays different than dreams on the weekends? 12. Does the time of year influence what you dream about? 13. Does the time you go to sleep influence what you dream about? 14. Are nighttime dreams different from dreams you have if you take a nap (or fall asleep during class)? 15. Are your dreams different when you’re sick? 16 Are your dreams different when you take medicine? 17. Do you remember dreams you’ve had in the past? How long ago? 18. Do you have the same dreams more than once? 19. Are your dreams similar to the dreams of other people in your class? 20. Do you remember your dreams better when you wake up naturally or when your alarm clock awakens you? Boomerang
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MAKING SLEEP POSSIBLE
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