Informative Speech Draft

2^nd Edition (02-24-09)

Kasey Poche’

1.       The Importance of Sleep

2.       To inform my audience of the importance of sleeping and what happens in the body while we are sleeping

3.       As a result of my presentation, my audience will be able to make wiser choices concerning sleep

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was thinkin’ the other day, “ Man, I really need more sleep.” Then I got to wonderin, “ How much sleep do I actually need? What goes on while I sleep?” All the health magazines I’ve read say that we should get at least eight hours of sleep a night. But, I don’t know anyone who gets that much sleep every night! So, I decided to do some research and finally answer those burning questions. But keeping that information would be an injustice! Today, I’m going to give you the answers to the following mind bogglers: Why do we sleep? What happens while we sleep? How much sleep do we need to succeed in college and life? And finally, what are the effects of sleep deprivation?

Discovering why we sleep is still difficult for scientists. Generally, sleep specialists study the sleeping patterns of animals and/or the side effets of sleep deprivation on the brain. An article published on Harvard’s medical website discusses four theories that explain why we sleep. The first theory is the Inactivity Theory. This theory suggests that animals sleep in order to protect themselves from predators by staying still for a long period of time. This theory also states that sleep is an evolutionary mechanism for survival. The main flaw with this theory is that animals can’t protect themselves while they are sleeping- so how could sleep help keep animals from being attacked by their predators? The second theory is called the Energy Conservation Theory. This theory is also states that sleep is an evolutionary mechanism for survival. Because metabolism slows during sleeping, energy is conserved. Over time, sleeping became a survival technique during times when energy sources were scarce. Or consider this: According to an article posted on sleephomepages.org, the lion rests approx. fourteen to sixteen hours per day, and generally begin sleeping after consuming its prey. By slowing its metabolism rate while sleeping, the lion prevents wasting any energy and allows a large time span between killings to occur. The third theory is called the Restorative Theory. The writer of Harvard’s aticle stated that, “Muscle growth, tissue repair, protein synthesis, growth hormone releasement,”(Harvard website) all happen while we sleep-so this theory states that sleeping simply helps the body recover from the strenuous activites of survival- firing of neurons, cell replacement, etc. that occur while we are awake. Also, the writer noted that while we are awake, adenosine- a by-product of firing neurons- builds up in the brain. This build-up slows the brain processing capabilites down, and while we are sleeping, the brain flushes out all that adenosine. Finally, the fourth theory is the Brain Plasticity Theory. Sleep specialists have discovered that infants spend about half of their sleeping time in REM sleep- which aids in the actual development of the brain; therefore, specialists estimate that sleep aids not only in brain function but also in brain growth.

Although sleep specialists don’t have a concrete answer to why we sleep, they have uncovered different types of sleep. The two main types are called NREM and REM, which is non-rapid eye movement, and rapid eye movement. The two types alternate throughout the time we sleep- with NREM lasting approx. eighty minutes while REM lasting about ten minutes. A successful night’s rest includes between three to six alternations of sleep (Sleep Syllabus). If you look at the screen {point to screen}, you can see what occurs in the body during the NREM and REM stages { review the information that’s on the screen}. There are also two types of REM sleep- Phasic and Tonic.  Random rapid  eye movements and muscle twitches occur in the Phasic stage while consistent rapid eye movement and involuntary muscle movement occurs during the Tonic Stage.

So now that we know more about why we sleep and the different types of sleep, the next question is: How much sleep do we need? Research shows that infants sleeps approx. sixteen to eighteen hours a day(Sleep Syllabus). Obviously, we don’t need that much sleep when we are older. But, honestly, how much sleep do college students need to succeed not only in college, but also as we age? There are a lot of factors to consider when determining the answer. What’s the work schedule each person has? How many classes is each person taking? What are the classes each person is taking? How does each person learn? What classes are easy for some students but harder for others? For example, one college student might excel in Calculus 101, but may need to work harder for World Literature. That college student may need more sleep for the latter class to help him/her retain and remember all the information for the Lit. class, but may need less or close to none to remember the information for Calculus. Also, there are more people going back to school after starting families. Those students would most likely need more sleep, but may not get the necessary amount due to the responsibilities of raising their children. Most studies reveal that at least eight hours a night should be devoted to sleep in order for us to not only function the next day, but to also store and categorize information. And what about craming? Although craming may help students pass a particular quiz or exam, students may not be able to remember the information being tested in the future. Studies show that all nighters are not beneficial for long term memory of information. When interviewd, Jessica Simmons, an accounting major at the University of West Florida stated, “ Craming has helped me pass exams with high grades, but it didn’t help me once I passed that class and moved on to a more difficult course.” I myself can testify that I have yet to pull an all nighter to prepare for an exam, and generally speaking, I have yet to experience unusual difficulty in remembering previous material and learning new information.

At last we come to our final question. What are the effects of sleep dperivation? Besides the obvious of functioning at a slower rate when we don’t get enough sleep, what else happens to us? When we go without sleep, our mood changes. How many of us have noticed how more cheerful we are when we wake up after a successful night’s rest? When we don’t get enough sleep, not only is our attitude more sour, but our moods change more rapidly throughout the day. Also, when we don’t get enough sleep, we lose focus during class, and staying awake can be a challenge. We can’t succeed with high grades in our classes if we can not keep from falling asleep. Our reaction times become slower and we lose coordination. Lack of sleep has become