Test Your Smarts - Pillow Pitch

No way! Don’t be fooled by what it looks like. Your entire body is repairing itself, growing, and fighting any germs you picked up during the day. Your brain is as busy when you’re sleeping as when you’re awake. Sleep is important but it’s definitely not downtime for your brain. Your brain is helping you grow and filing all the stuff you learned during the day. It has tons to do before dawn!

That’s right! While sleep is important, it’s definitely not downtime. Your entire body is repairing itself, growing, and fighting any germs you picked up during the day. Your brain is as busy when you’re sleeping as when you’re awake. Your brain is helping you grow and filing all the stuff you learned during the day. Your brain has tons to do before dawn!

Nope. You might be able to fall asleep, but distractions like light and noise can keep you from getting the really good, deep sleep that helps you rebuild energy. Even if they don’t wake you up completely, noise and light force your body to stay aware of what’s going on around you. That keeps you from dropping way down into the deep sleep that’s the most restful.

That’s right! Even if you can fall asleep in a loud or bright place, these distractions will make it harder for you to get very deep sleep—and that’s the best kind. Very deep sleep is when your body restores energy to get you ready for the next day. Noise and light force your body to stay aware of what’s going on around you. That keeps you from dropping way down into the deep sleep that’s the most restful.

That’s right!—if you’re regularly active and make sure to slow down several hours before going to bed, you’ll burn off extra energy and sleep better. But, being really active within a few hours of bedtime can wind you up and make it hard to fall sleep. So, make sure you wrap up your b’ball game or swim practice at least three hours before bedtime.

You’re right that being active right before bed can make it hard to fall asleep, because your body still is keyed up and that can make it tough to relax. But being active can help you sleep better—because you burn off extra energy — as long as you wind down well before bedtime.

No way is sleep a waste! Sleep is an important a part of your health and energy—it ranks right up there with diet and exercise. Sleep gives you the energy to play video games and basketball, and to study.

Getting enough sleep the night before class helps you stay sharp, and remember what you’ve already learned. Even if you could study for 9 hours straight without getting tired, you’d be much more likely to remember what you studied if you sleep before the test. While you sleep, your body stores memories. Studying without sleeping is like typing on a computer all day, but then not pressing save.

And not sleeping enough can make you clumsy—that’s no good while you’re on the court. While you sleep, your brain releases the hormones that control your growth. If you don’t sleep enough, you may be tired, cranky, klutzy, and forgetful.

While scientists are a little baffled about why all this recharging can happen only when we sleep, they all agree that we do need to get our z’s.

That’s right! You know that sleep is an important a part of your health and energy—it ranks right up there with diet and exercise. Sleep gives you the energy to play video games and basketball, and to study.

Getting enough sleep the night before class will help you stay sharp, and remember what you’ve already learned. Even if you could study for 9 hours straight without getting tired, you’d be much more likely to remember what you studied if you sleep after studying. While you sleep, your body stores memories. Studying without sleeping is like typing on a computer all day, but then not pressing save.

And not sleeping enough can make you clumsy—that’s no good while you’re on the court. While you sleep, your brain releases the hormones that control your growth. If you don’t sleep enough, you may be tired, cranky, klutzy, and forgetful.

While scientists are a little baffled about why all this recharging can happen only when we sleep, they all agree that we do need to sleep.