Is It Really Asleep?: teacher key

How Animals Sleep, grade 6 edition, written for 6th grade. An ostrich sleeps with its eyes open, and a whale floats like a pillar. See how scientists work out who is really asleep.

Read the book. Print this page for the key.

Questions and answers

1. Why can a sleeping ostrich fool you?
   • It sits still with its eyes open and neck upright (answer)
   • It sleeps in water
   • It snores loudly
2. What did the whales do when a boat came near?
   • Swam away
   • Did not react until it touched one (answer)
   • Splashed the boat
3. What do bearded dragons show about slow-wave and REM sleep?
   • Only mammals have them
   • Lizards, birds and mammals all have them, so the patterns are probably very old (answer)
   • Only birds have them
4. About how long does an octopus's active sleep last each time?
   • About 40 seconds (answer)
   • About 40 minutes
   • About 4 hours
5. Why might a bird that stays in the air for 200 days have to sleep in flight?
   • It has no wings
   • It stays in the air the whole time (answer)
   • It hangs upside down
6. What does upright mean here?
   • Straight up (answer)
   • Upside down
   • Very fast

Words

• electrodes: sensor pads
• torpor: deep rest
• upright: straight up
• reptiles: lizards and snakes