When Science Meets the Classroom — Yifat's Experience in the “Sleep – A Third of our Life” Initiative

Yifat, a student teacher from Shadmot Negev, entered the teaching profession with the desire to connect her students to the world of science. When she joined the “Sleep – A Third of our Life” project, she knew it was an excellent opportunity to give them a real research experience. But she quickly realized that the biggest challenge was sparking interest in the topic of sleep. At first, when she brought up the topic in class, the students didn’t show much enthusiasm. But Yifat didn’t give up. She made the conversation intriguing, asked them questions about their own sleep habits, and incorporated a discussion on citizen science. When she presented the project as an opportunity to take part in real research and help scientists, interest began to grow. Next, the students met on Zoom with Noam, the project’s lead researcher, who taught them how to collect data and keep a sleep diary. They then discussed the questions to be included in the study and even added their own. Their engagement grew, and they set out to fill in the logs, which is a challenging process that ultimately succeeded after Yifat initiated a friendly competition in class that helped boost participation. But the real challenge came when it was time to analyze the data. Over the course of three lessons, the students grappled with data files received from various groups. At first, they struggled to understand how to work with them, and Yifat realized they needed clearer guidance. She spent one-on-one time with each pair, explaining, supporting, and guiding them step by step through the world of data analysis. The highlight came in the third class, the moment the students began raising their own questions out of curiosity: “Are we different from other teenagers?” and “What does the data say about us?” The classroom became a true space for inquiry. At the end of the process, each pair created a poster presenting their research question and the data analysis they had conducted. Not all of them completed the task, but for Yifat, it was a meaningful experience. She saw firsthand the connections that science had forged with the students, connections that, in her view, could influence their future choices. In her view, the way to complete the experience is through a face-to-face meeting with the researchers, to make the connection to research even more tangible. For Yifat, the initiative was not just a teaching project, but making her vision a reality.