Lesson resources
This guide contains all of the essential documents you will need to conduct our Time investigation.
Scroll down for the how-to film, lesson plan and student resources. Don't forget, in addition, we also prepared a handy classroom presentation you can use in class.
How to do the Time Investigation
This two-minute film contains a step-by-step guide to completing the Time investigation.
NARRATOR:
This investigation takes place on the weekend before the clocks change and also on the weekend after clock change. You will need… sleep diaries, rulers, conversion tables, reaction timetable, Karolinska Sleepiness Scale. This investigation has two parts. Part one, sleep diary. Pupils will need to record on the weekend before the clocks change and on the weekend after clockchange. They will need to record a time when they switch off the light to sleep on Friday, Saturday and Sunday night. Pupils will also need to record the time when they wake up on the Saturday, Sunday and Monday morning. Remember to tell pupils to take these recordings on the weekend before and the weekend after clock change. When back in class, children should writedown what time they would normally go to bed and get up on a weekday. Part two, Karolinska test and reaction test. On the Friday and Monday before and after both weekends of the study, the children will carry out two simple measurements in the morning and afternoon on each of those days. In the morning, give each pupils a copy of the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale. Eachpupil records how sleepy they feel. Split the class into pairs. Sitting or standing opposite from each other. Pupil one extends their writing arm out in front of them and makes a fist with their hand, thumb side up. Then they point their thumb and index finger forward, keeping them about two centimetres apart. Pupil two holds out a ruler for pupil one to catch. The ruler should bebetween pupil one's thumb and index finger, with the zero centimetre mark level with pupil one's thumb. With warning, pupil two should release the ruler for pupil one to catch. Make a note of where the top of pupil one's thumb is on the ruler in centimetres. And record the distance in the pupil's reaction times chart. Repeat the test five times for each pupil. Using the distance-reactiontime conversion scale, convert the centimetres to milliseconds.
NARRATOR:
Record the results onto the reaction times chart. Pupils work out their average time in milliseconds. Repeat these tests in the afternoon. All variables need to remain constant, including same pairs, rulers and catching hand. Remember to do the Karolinska test and reaction test twice on the Friday before the clocks change and twice on the Monday after the clocks change.
