✦ The Spark
A snail can sleep for three whole years without waking up!
The Story
You probably think sleeping in on a Saturday morning is really good. But snails can do something much more extreme. When the weather gets too hot or too dry, a snail just... goes to sleep. And it might not wake up for three whole years.
The snail pulls its whole body inside its shell and makes a kind of door out of slime that dries hard. This keeps it safe and moist inside. The snail's body slows way, way down — it barely breathes, barely moves, barely does anything at all. It's called estivation.
When the rain comes back and things get wet and cool again, the snail wakes up, pushes through its slime door, and carries on as if nothing happened. Scientists even found snails in museums that had been asleep for years and woke them up just by putting them in water!
Make Your Prediction
What does a snail make to seal itself inside its shell during its long sleep?
Pick your answer to reveal the explanation.
Today's Challenge
Move around the room as slowly as you possibly can, like a sleepy snail. See how long it takes you to get from one wall to the other. How many seconds was that?
Talk About It
If you could sleep for three years and wake up, what do you think would be different when you woke up?
What is the longest you have ever slept in one go?
Do you think the snail has dreams during its three-year sleep?
Go Deeper
Scientists at the Natural History Museum in London found a snail specimen that had been stuck to a cardboard display for four years. When they put it in warm water — it woke up and started moving around!