Teacher sheet · Ages 10–11 · about 45–50 minutes
Sleep: what happens at night?
Lesson page: echoesof.science/school/sleep/ages-10-11/ · Pupil worksheet: echoesof.science/school/sleep/ages-10-11/print/
Learning aims
- Describe the stages of sleep and the sleep cycle.
- Explain the roles of the body clock (light, melatonin) and sleep pressure (adenosine).
- Know the recommended sleep for children and teenagers.
- Run a fair, anonymous survey and present the data in a bar chart.
Lesson plan
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 5 min | Starter: what do you think your body does during the night? |
| 10 min | Read the text; draw the cycle stage 1 → 2 → 3 → REM on the board. |
| 15 min | Anonymous sleep survey and bar chart. |
| 10 min | Discuss fairness and accuracy of the survey. |
| 5 min | Quiz or the REM or non-REM? game. |
Materials for the experiment
- Small identical paper slips
- A box or bag to collect them
- Squared paper or a whiteboard for a bar chart
Safety: Keep it anonymous and kind: nobody has to answer, and nobody should be teased about their answer. Families have different routines.
Common misconceptions
| Pupils may think… | Actually… |
|---|---|
| You sleep the same way all night. | You go through stages that repeat several times; REM gets longer later in the night. |
| Sleep is just the body resting. | The brain is active: it clears waste and supports memory. |
| Caffeine gives you energy, so it is harmless at night. | Caffeine blocks adenosine, the signal that makes you sleepy. |
Worksheet answers
- Stage 1, stage 2, stage 3, REM.
- Class data (an answer like '14 out of 25').
- Caffeine blocks adenosine, the chemical that builds up while you are awake and makes you sleepy, so you don't feel sleepy.
- Any two of: same bedtime and wake time, dark quiet room, no screens in the bedroom, avoid caffeine late, a relaxing routine, exercise in the day; with a reason (e.g. darkness lets melatonin make you sleepy).
Quiz answers
- About how long after you fall asleep does the first REM sleep start? About 90 minutes. NINDS and NICHD both give about 90 minutes.[1][2]
- Which stage is deep sleep, when the body grows and repairs tissue? Stage 3. In stage 3 heartbeat and breathing are at their lowest.[2]
- Why don't you act out your dreams? Your arm and leg muscles are temporarily paralysed in REM sleep. This temporary paralysis happens during REM sleep.[1]
- Which chemical builds up while you are awake and is blocked by caffeine? Adenosine. Adenosine increases sleepiness; caffeine blocks it.[1]
- Your body clock uses information from your eyes about… light. Light information keeps the roughly 24-hour clock on time.[1]
- How much sleep is recommended for teenagers aged 13 to 18? 8 to 10 hours. The recommendation for ages 13 to 18 is 8 to 10 hours.[3]
Going further
Redo the survey for a weekend night. Is it different? Why might a regular schedule, including weekends, help?
Sources used in this lesson
- [1] Brain Basics: Understanding Sleep (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS, NIH)): reliability High
- [2] What happens during sleep? (Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD, NIH)): reliability High
- [3] Sleep (Healthy Schools) (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)): reliability High
- [4] Sleep in Middle and High School Students (archived feature) (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)): reliability High
Full list with links and a note on each source's reliability: echoesof.science/school/sleep/sources/
Privacy: the lesson pages have no ads, no tracking and no cookies. Quiz answers and game scores stay in the pupil's browser. A short video for each age is coming.