Circadian Rhythm Science Lesson

Credit: Howard Hughes Medical InstituteThe above graphs show data from teenagers and adults who participated in an 11-day activity study. Each person's Horne-Ostberg score was plotted on the x-axis and his average waking time on the y-axis. The Horne-Ostberg survey identifies a person as an "evening" or "morning" type. As part of its annual educational outreach lecture series, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute recently had high school students participate in a large-scale circadian rhythm sci

Written byEugene Russo

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Credit: Howard Hughes Medical Institute

The above graphs show data from teenagers and adults who participated in an 11-day activity study. Each person's Horne-Ostberg score was plotted on the x-axis and his average waking time on the y-axis. The Horne-Ostberg survey identifies a person as an "evening" or "morning" type.

As part of its annual educational outreach lecture series, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute recently had high school students participate in a large-scale circadian rhythm science lesson. The twist: Some of the students were themselves the subjects of a circadian rhythm experiment.

For the past eight years, the HHMI Precollege Science Education Program has reached out to high schools via December talks, called the "Holiday Lectures." The talks are modeled after similar events at other academic institutions, the original being the Faraday Lectures in London, which feature eminent scientists talking to a lay audience about science. December's two-day HHMI lectures, which ...

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