
Mozart vs. Beatles and Naptime Restlessness
Medium
Does the type of music playing during naptime change how restfully young children sleep? You compare classical music by Mozart with soft rock by the Beatles and count how much each child moves.
You video-record eight children during naptime at a childcare center. On alternating days you play one type of music. Thirty minutes into the nap you record ten minutes of footage for each child. Then you review the video and tally every large body movement.
The results show a clear pattern. Children made about half as many restless movements during Mozart sessions compared to Beatles sessions.
Hypothesis
The hypothesis is that the children will have a more restful nap with classical music rather than soft rock.
Method & Materials
You will record the same children for every video recording, playing the same Mozart music or the same Beatles music. You will measure the children's restful behavior by tallying large body movements.
You will need 8 children, 1 video tape, 1 battery charger, 1 television, 1 The Beatles playlist, 1 Mozart Piano Concertos Nos. 20 & 21 playlist, 1 music player, 8 cots, 1 childcare center, 1 phone or videocam to record video, and 1 tripod or stand for the recorder.
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See what’s includedResults
The results of the experiment showed that the trials using classical music had approximately half the restless movements of the soft rock music trials. This indicates that the hypothesis should be accepted.
Why do this project?
This science project is interesting because it can help parents and childcares around the world get their children to rest better during the day.
Also Consider
Variations of this experiment could include recording the amount of time that it takes for a child to rest, instead of the amount of movements a child has, or testing adults or teenagers instead of children.
Full project details
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