This Issue:

Table of Contents

Cover Story

Cover Story - Spanish Version

Mini-Lesson

Comprehension Quiz

Teacher's Guide and Worksheets

A Snooze Alarm

According to a new survey by the National Sleep Foundation, more and more kids may be catching z's at school instead of earning A's. The foundation polled more than 1,600 kids ages 11 to 17 and their parents and found that 20% of adolescents are getting fewer than nine hours of sleep on school nights.

The poll found that students who get at least nine hours of sleep do better in school than those who get less. Doctors recommend that school-age kids sleep 10 hours every night. "Sending students to school without enough sleep is like sending them to school without breakfast," said Jodi Mindell, the associate director of the Sleep Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Experts say that technology is partly to blame for poor sleeping habits. Around 97% of adolescents have at least one electronic item in their bedrooms--a computer, a TV, sometimes both. Scientists are hoping that the poll will serve as a wake-up call for adolescents to sleep more--at home, not at school!

Next: Look! Up in the Sky!