SCIENCE

UNIT 3/4 SLEEP INCURSION

On Tuesday 3 June, the Unit 3/4 Psychology cohort experienced a sleep incursion, to help us get a head start on our next area of the study, Sleep. In this area of study, we will gain an in-depth understanding of the reasons our bodies sleep, and sleep hygiene methods (used to improve sleep quality). 

The incursion involved Hollie Wright, a provisional psychologist of the Turner Institute VCE Sleep Program, who came in and taught us all about sleep, from “why do we sleep anyway?” to the brain waves that can be seen during sleep, and how we can improve our sleep quality. Throughout the whole presentation, I couldn’t help but take down many notes while going “Ohhh!! Woah…” every few minutes. 

Eventually, she showed us this crazy-looking machine with wires everywhere, which we learnt was called a “polysomnogram”. One student from each group volunteered to have their brain activity measured in front of the cohort. Seeing the active brain waves live in front of me was… phenomenal. 

I feel so lucky to be offered this opportunity at McKinnon, and as a student who often struggles with sleeping myself, I also found this as a motivation to fix my own sleeping habits!

Effy Huang

Year 12 Student