Have you ever had a sleepover at a friend’s house or camped in a tent? Imagine sleeping on the side of a mountain! In Peru, there are special pods that look like spaceships, and they hang from cliffs. Would you be able to fall asleep there?
If heights aren’t your thing, how about a hotel made entirely of ice? Even the bed is a block of ice! You’d need lots of blankets to stay warm and cozy there.
Connor is curious about sleep. He asked, “What is the longest anyone has ever stayed awake?” Have you ever tried to stay awake when you were really tired? It’s tough! Once, I tried to watch a midnight movie with friends, but I fell asleep right in the theater.
Think about the longest you’ve ever stayed awake. How did it feel? Maybe you stayed up late on New Year’s Eve or at a sleepover. You might have felt tired, grumpy, or had trouble concentrating. That’s because our bodies need sleep to feel rested and ready for the next day.
Randy Gardner was curious about what happens if we don’t sleep. In high school, he tried to break the world record for staying awake as a science project. He stayed awake for more than 11 days! His friends helped him by playing games and talking to keep him awake.
Scientists studied Randy and noticed that after a few days without sleep, he had trouble concentrating and got grumpy. He even started dreaming while awake, which is called hallucinating. By day 11, he was very tired and could barely talk to his friends.
After Randy’s experiment, scientists learned more about sleep. They used a special machine called an EEG to study his brain. They found out that parts of Randy’s brain were taking tiny naps, even though he looked awake. This is called microsleep, where you can be awake and asleep at the same time!
So, what’s the longest anyone has stayed awake? It’s hard to say because it’s tricky to know if someone is truly awake. The Guinness Book of World Records doesn’t track this record anymore because staying awake too long can be harmful.
When we don’t get enough sleep, we can have trouble thinking, listening, and even tasting. Sleep is so important that our brains take little naps when we need it, even if we look awake. So, when you’re feeling tired, it’s definitely time to get some rest!
Thanks for exploring this question with us! Stay curious, and see you next time!
Sleep Diary: Keep a sleep diary for a week. Each night, write down what time you go to bed and what time you wake up. In the morning, draw a smiley face if you feel rested or a sleepy face if you still feel tired. At the end of the week, look at your diary and see if you notice any patterns. Do you feel better on days when you get more sleep?
Build a Cozy Sleep Spot: Create a cozy sleep spot at home using pillows, blankets, and your imagination. Pretend it’s one of the unusual places mentioned in the article, like a cliff pod or an ice hotel. Think about what you would need to feel comfortable and safe sleeping there. Share your creation with your family and explain why sleep is important.
Sleep and Wakefulness Experiment: With a parent’s help, try a simple experiment to understand how sleep affects your concentration. Choose a simple task like drawing a picture or building a small puzzle. Do the task once when you feel well-rested and once when you’re a bit tired. Compare how you feel and how well you can do the task each time. Discuss with your family why sleep might make a difference.
Sure! Here’s a sanitized version of the transcript:
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(phone ringing) – Hey, it’s Esther. Have you ever slept somewhere different than where you usually do, like during a sleepover at a friend’s house or maybe in a tent while camping? How about on the side of a mountain? These pods look like spaceships, but they’re actually bedrooms hanging from the side of a cliff. Whoa, they’re part of a hotel in Peru. Do you think you could fall asleep there?
Okay, if you’re a little scared of heights, you may prefer this bedroom better. This is a hotel made entirely of ice. Even the bed is made from a block of ice. You would need lots of blankets to stay warm and get a good night’s sleep here.
Someone named Connor is curious about sleep. Let’s give Connor a call now. (phone ringing) – Hi, Esther. – Hi, Connor. – I have a question for you. What is the longest anyone has ever stayed awake? – Ooh, that is a great question. Have you ever tried to stay awake when you were really tired? It’s definitely not easy. I remember wanting to see a movie on the first day it came out, but the problem was the movie started at midnight. I tried so hard to stay awake with my friends, but I just couldn’t do it. I fell asleep right there in the theater and missed the whole thing. It’s kind of like my body was saying, “You’re going to sleep whether you like it or not.”
Before I go on, I’m curious, what’s the longest you’ve ever stayed awake? What did it feel like? Now would be a good time to pause the video and discuss.
Okay, you ready? I don’t know how you answered, but some of you might have stayed up past midnight on New Year’s Eve or maybe even stayed awake later at a sleepover party. Whatever it was, you may have felt a little weak by the end or maybe you couldn’t really concentrate. You might have even felt a little sad or grumpy. That’s because your body needs sleep. Scientists aren’t totally sure why, but we know that sleep makes us feel more rested and gets us ready for the next day. Sleep is really important, and a lot of things can happen when we don’t get enough of it.
Just ask Randy Gardner. When he was in high school, he was really curious about what would happen if humans didn’t sleep. In fact, he and his friend were so curious that they decided to try to break the world record for staying awake for a high school science fair project. That meant one of them would have to stay awake for more than 11 days. They flipped a coin, and Randy would be the one to stay awake while his friend made sure he didn’t fall asleep.
After a few days, another friend came to help. They took turns talking and playing games like basketball whenever he felt like dozing off. When scientists heard about the experiment, they were curious about what would happen to Randy if he kept staying awake. So one of them drove hundreds of miles to study Randy in person. Since so few people had stayed awake for long, he thought he could learn a lot from the experiment, and this is what he noticed.
After a few days of not sleeping, Randy started having trouble concentrating. He couldn’t even repeat a simple tongue twister and had trouble doing math problems. Oh, and he started getting really grumpy, especially when people reminded him to stay awake. He even started having trouble hearing, tasting, and smelling. After four days of no sleep, Randy started hallucinating, which is like dreaming while you’re awake. By day 11, Randy’s body really needed sleep, and he could barely even answer when his friends talked to him. Overall, Randy ended up staying awake for 264 hours. That’s the longest scientists have recorded anyone staying awake.
After Randy’s experiment, other people tried to break the staying awake record, like a woman in England who reportedly stayed awake while rocking in a rocking chair for more than 18 days. So, who holds the record for staying awake the longest? Is it Randy, the high schooler who was studied by scientists? Was it the lady in the rocking chair?
While it turns out, this isn’t an easy question to answer because it’s really hard to be sure if someone’s actually awake or asleep. It might seem obvious, but it’s actually not. The only way you can really tell if someone is awake or asleep is by using a special machine called an EEG. An EEG measures your brainwaves, kind of like a heart monitor measures your heartbeat. After Randy’s staying awake experiment, scientists studied his brain with one of these machines and discovered that he probably wasn’t fully awake for 11 days. In fact, they aren’t sure how long he stayed awake. Scientists now believe that parts of Randy’s brain were taking mini naps even though his eyes were open and he looked awake.
When someone’s brain sleeps like this, it’s called microsleep. It’s almost like being awake and asleep at the same time. Your eyes can be open, and you can be moving or even talking while parts of your brain are taking a quick nap. And that’s why it’s not easy to tell if someone is asleep or awake. You may have experienced microsleeps yourself while watching a movie or even sitting up in class. The thing is, people don’t usually notice when someone’s taking a mini nap like this, not even scientists.
So what’s the longest anyone’s ever stayed awake? We may never know the answer to this question. In fact, the Guinness Book of World Records doesn’t even keep track of the staying awake record anymore. They don’t want anyone trying to break that record because staying awake for too long could be harmful to our bodies.
When we try to stay awake for too long, we can have trouble thinking, listening, tasting, and even smelling. How strange is that? Sleep is so important that when your body really needs it, you can’t stop parts of your brain from taking little naps even if you look awake to everyone else. And when that happens, it’s definitely time to get some rest.
That’s all for this week’s question. Thanks, Connor, for asking it. Now for the next episode, we reached into our question jar and picked out three questions sent to us that we’re thinking about answering next. When the video’s done playing, you’ll get to vote on one. You can choose from, “How does Velcro work?”, “Can trees talk to each other?”, or “How does gas power a car?”. So submit your vote when the video is over. We want to hear from all of you watching. There are mysteries all around us. Stay curious and see you next week.
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