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IT MAKES SENSE
MASTER TEACHER Gladys Tilley
GRADES K - 2
OVERVIEW
This lesson provides students with an understanding that our
senses allow us to live, act and react to our immediate surroundings and our
world. This lesson uses the hands-on approach; learner interactions with
each other and the teacher; real-life, concrete experiences and video segments
to teach about the five senses and how they help us learn. Students will use
fabrics to experiment with touch; pureed foods to experiment with smell and
taste; test each ear individually and together to experiment with hearing; and,
use their eyes individually and together to experiment with sight.
ETV SERIES
Science Treehouse # 103 - Hearing-Listening
Bill Nye the Science Guy # 406 - Smell
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Students will be able to:
*name and point to each of the five sense areas;
*decide whether it is easier touch the nose when using one eye
or no eyes;
*use taste and smell to identify foods when they are not in
their natural states;
*construct a musical instrument;
*predict if two fabrics are the same using touch only;
*predict what is being heard without using sight.
MATERIALS (for teacher)
salt - 1 box
sugar - 1 cup
portion cups - 1 per student
film canisters - 1 per student
vinegar - 1 bottle
1 brightly colored scarf
MATERIALS (for students)
Sense of Smell and Taste:
Pureed foods (teacher's choice- examples:
carrots, bananas, cantaloupe, spinach, etc.)
containers for the pureed foods - 1 container
for each pureed food
food coloring (optional)
plastic spoons - 1 per student
water and small cups for drinking after tasting - 1 per student
real items that were used for pureeing
Sense of Touch:
fabrics for sense bags
2, 4, or 6 paper lunch sacks to make 'feely' bags
8-10 swatches of cloth for each bag (fill two bags squares of
the same fabrics)
Sense of Hearing:
sturdy paper plates (2 per student)
dried beans, rice, sand, pebbles, (other objects of
teacher's choice for making music)
stapler with staples ( 2 )
hole punch (2 - 4)
by teacher if used: markers ( 2 - 4 boxes) yarn or
colorful ribbons (amount and colors determined
All Senses:
popcorn - 1 or 2 jars
popcorn popper
butter (optional)
salt or popcorn salt - 1 box
popcorn oil - 1 jar
napkins - 1 per student
Rotations
A. Sight
B. Smell and Taste
C. Touch
D. Hearing
E. All Five
Vocabulary
five - the number of the senses
senses - the physical ability which allows a person to be
aware of things around him/her
eyes - the sense organs that enables one to see
sight - the ability to see with the eyes
see - having the power of sight
nose - the body organ containing the sense of smell
smell - the ability to notice an odor
hands - the body organs allowing one to touch
skin - the outside covering of people and some animals
touch - the ability to feel
ears - the sense organs through which we hear
hear - using the ears to listen
tongue - the body organ inside the mouth which allows one
to taste what one eats or drinks
taste - to sense or determine flavor in the mouth
survive - to live; to exist
PRE-VIEWING ACTIVITIES
With learners seated on carpet, say, "Today we will begin
our study of the five senses. Can anyone tell me what they are?"
Accept any and all answers. Then acknowledge all correct answers by
saying, "Yes, our five senses are - seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting and
touching. What body parts do we use for seeing?" (Ans.
"Eyes.") Say, "Good! Point to your eyes. Let's
see if they work. Cover your eyes." When eyes are covered, hold
up a brightly colored scarf. Say, "Keep your eyes covered and
tell me what I am holding." When there are no answers, say,
"Uncover your eyes. Now, what am I holding?" (Ans. "A
scarf.") Ask, "Why couldn't you tell me before?"
(Ans. " We couldn't see.") Ask, "Does that mean you needed
your eyes?" (Ans. "Yes.") Ask, "What
body part do we use for hearing?" (Ans.
"Ears.") Say, "Let's see how they work.' Snap, clap
and/or slap some patterns and have learners repeat. Do several patterns
for repetition. Have the learners turn their backs to you and cover their ears.
Snap, clap and/or slap a pattern for them to repeat. Then ask, "Why
couldn't you repeat the pattern accurately?" (Ans. "We
could not hear it very well.") Say, "When you had your
backs to me, what else could you not do?" (Ans. "See.")
Ask, "Does this mean that along with our sense of hearing our sense of
sight works to help?" (Ans. "Yes.") Say,
"We now see how important our eyes and our ears are for us to listen and
learn."
What do we use to smell?" (Ans. "Our
nose.") Ask, "What do we use to taste?" (Ans.
"Tongue/Mouth.") Produce portion cups with sugar and portion
cups with salt. Pass them around. Say, "Use your nose to
smell what is inside the cups. Can you tell me what you have? (Ans.
"No.") Ask, "Why not?" (Ans. "I/We can't
smell it.") Say, "Taste what you have. Touch what you have in
your cups with your fingers and put some on your tongue. Can you tell me
now?" (Ans. "Yes. Sugar. Salt.") Collect
the portion cups as you pass around the film canisters containing vinegar.
Say, "Uncap the canisters and smell. Do you have to taste it to tell
what you have?" (Ans. "No.") Ask,
"What do you have?" (Ans. "Vinegar.") Ask,
"How do you know it is vinegar without tasting it?" (Ans.
"We can smell it.") Say, "Put the tops back on and I will
collect the canisters. We have experimented with the senses of sight,
smell, taste and hearing. Which sense is left?" (Ans.
"Touch.") Ask, "What do we use for our sense of
touch?" (Ans. "Hands/skin.") Say,
"Take your hand and lightly touch your hair. Not your head. Your hair
only. Tell me about the touch." (Ans. "I could feel
my hair with my hand but also I could feel the touch on my scalp.")
Say, "Now, run your hand lightly over your arm. Do not touch
your arm, just the hairs on your arm. What do you feel?"
(Answers may vary.) Say, "You have done an excellent job
experimenting with the five senses." You may wish to stop here and
explain that the nerve endings in the scalp and the skin allow them to feel when
the hairs on the scalp and arms are being touched. Ask, " Who can
name and point to one of the five senses for me?" Keep asking this
question until all five senses have been named and pointed to.
FOCUS FOR VIEWING
To give students a specific responsibility for viewing, say,
"I really thought naming and experimenting with the five senses was going
to be more difficult, but you proved that it was not. We have a wonderful
video segment to watch. Bill Nye, the Science Guy, usually does some very
exciting science lessons. Let's watch and listen as he tells us about one
of our five senses. Listen so that you can tell me which one he is telling
us about."
VIEWING ACTIVITIES
Start video where Bill Nye is standing in front of the
door marked NYE Laboratories and says, "Take a deep breath." Pause
video when he walks behind the television and says "Our sense of
smell." Ask, "What things did Bill Nye say we could tell the
difference between?" (Ans. "Flowers and a skunk, coffee
and dirt, cabbage and toast.") Say, "Good listening! "Where does
our sense of taste mainly come from?" (Ans. "Our sense of
smell?") Ask, "Why do we use our sense of smell?"
(Ans. "To survive.") Ask, "What does ėsurvive' mean?"
If no one has an answer, tell them that ėsurvive' means to ėlive'. Resume
video. Stop video when Bill Nye says, "It's our sense of
smell," and removes his head gear. Rewind video to where Bill Nye is
standing in front of the door marked NYE Laboratories and says, "Take a
deep breath." Ask, "What was burning?" (Ans.
"Toast.") Say, "When the toast was not burning anymore, why
could Bill Nye still smell it?" (Ans. "Tiny pieces of
toast were still in the air.") Ask, "What did he use to tell
that there were tiny pieces of toast still in the air?" (Ans.
"His sense of smell.") NOTE: At anytime during the video
segment, if learners need to listen to any part of it again, rewind to the
segment they need to watch again and let them watch and listen. At the end
of the segment(s), you may also wish to rewind the video, turn off the sound and
have learners watch and discuss the video as you pause at intervals. Say,
"Bill Nye told us about the sense of smell. Let's see what the
Science Treehouse has to tell us about hearing and listening". Start
video where Kate is standing in front of the window and saying, "To start
with, Sylvia, I'd like to know what is sound?" Pause video
when Sylvia turns down the stereo and says, "Something we hear and
vibrations." Ask, "What two things did Sylvia say sound
is?" (Ans. "What we hear and vibrations.") Ask, "How
did Sylvia show that sounds vibrate?" (Ans. "By turning up the
stereo to show how playing it very loudly makes the stereo vibrate
faster.") Resume video where Sylvia turns the stereo sound down and
says, "Let's take a question from one of our viewers." Pause
video when you see the piano being played and Sylvia says, "So he could
hear the vibrations travel up through the wood." Ask, "How does sound
travel?" (Ans. "Through air, water, and solids.")
Ask, "Of air, water and solids, which one lets sound travel the
fastest?" (Ans. "Solids.") Fast forward and resume
video where Cindy is talking with Kate in front of the window and Cindy says,
"Some animals have specialized hearing." Stop and rewind video
when Cindy says, "Turn up that bass and feel the vibrations" and you
see the snake crawling on the ground. Ask, "How can rabbits
move their ears?" (Ans. "Forward, to the side and
backwards.") Ask, "What kind of hearing does a rabbit
have?" (Ans. "Directional hearing.") Ask,
"How does directional hearing help the rabbit protect himself?"
("The rabbit can move his ears to pick up sounds and hear anything coming
up behind him.") Ask, "What can a kangaroo rat hear?"
(Ans. "The scales of a snake moving on the ground when the snake is trying
to sneak up on him.") Ask, "Does a kangaroo rat have large ears
like a rabbit and have directional hearing?" (Ans. "No, it has small
ears but a large chamber inside his ears that allow for specialized
hearing.") Ask, "Does a snake hear?" (Ans.
"Yes.") Ask, "How?" (Ans. "Snakes
have internal ears that we cannot see.") Ask, "What does a snake
hear?" (Ans. "Thumping and bumping.")
POST-VIEWING ACTIVITIES
Say, "Now that we have talked about the senses and watched
two excellent videos, it is your turn to experience and explore the senses some
more. We will have five rotations in which you will participate and have
fun learning more about the senses. In one rotation, you will compare
fabric pieces in two bags while experimenting with the sense of touch. In
another rotation, you will experiment with the senses of taste and smell as you
sample pureed foods. In a third rotation, you will create a musical
instrument for use with your sense of hearing. A fourth rotation will have
you test accuracy as you experiment with the sense of sight. The fifth
rotation will allow you to experience all five senses as you see, touch, hear,
smell and taste a mystery food." Assign approximately four
learners to each rotation station.
Rotation A - Touch Give
each learner pair two bags of identical fabric pieces. One bag is held in
front and the other behind. The learner with the bags reaches into each
bag at the same time and tries to find two identical pieces of fabric.
When the learner thinks he or she has the same pieces of fabric in both hands,
the learner brings both hands together to compare the fabrics. If the
fabrics are the same, the pieces are laid together beside the learner and the
bag is then given to his/her partner to try. If the pieces do not match,
they are returned to the bags before the partner tries. This fabric
identification continues until all fabrics are identified.
Rotation B - Smell and Taste
Pureed foods are set out in small containers. (Portion cups may
be used.) Plastic spoons are laid out also. At the top of the
table are the actual foods used for pureeing. The color of the pureed
foods may be disguised by the use of food coloring. Learners smell
the foods and try to guess what they are. Then they are tasted. You
may ask them to tell if there is a difference in the pureed and actual taste of
the foods not pureed. Note: Baby foods may be used here.
Rotation C - Hearing - Do you hear music?
Rotation members are given two sturdy paper plates each to
decorate the outsides. The teacher demonstrates by doing the following.
After showing two decorated plate bottoms, place one paper plate, decorated side
down on the table. Add pebbles, etc. Place the other paper plate on
top of the other, decorated side up. Staple the plates together.
Punch holes around the plates at intervals and thread yarn or ribbon through the
holes to make the paper plate instruments more colorful. Lay out beans, rice,
sand, pebbles, etc. in containers for learners to choose from as they make their
musical instruments. They can decide on the sound by the numbers and types
of noisemakers they put inside.
Rotation D - Sight and Touch - One eye or two?
Learners stand before a partner with their eyes closed.
The seeing partners ask them to touch their noses with their index (pointer)
fingers. When this is done, learners open their eyes and discuss whether
or not they were accurate. Now the partners have them touch their noses
with one eye open and the other closed. Discuss the accuracy. Next
have them touch their noses with both eyes open. Discuss this accuracy.
Partners trade roles and the same experiments are done. Was there a
difference as each experiment was done? Which way did they feel more
confident? Both eyes closed? One eye open? Both eyes open?
Rotation E - All Five Senses - Can I see it, touch it,
smell it, hear it, taste it?
Give each learner a few popcorn kernels to examine. Have
then discuss how it feels, whether or not they can smell it, hear it or taste
it. Have them tell what senses they are using as they hold and look at the
kernels. Have the popcorn popper hidden behind a display board or some
other object where the learners cannot see it. Start popping the popcorn.
Have learners predict what is happening when the popcorn starts to pop.
Have learners tell what senses they are using as the popcorn pops and when they
get to eat it. Learners compare their unpopped kernels to the popped
kernels - looks, size, feel, etc. You may wish to take this opportunity to
tell learners why popcorn pops. NOTE: Inside each unpopped kernel of
popcorn, there is a small drop of water. When the kernel is heating in the
oil, the water inside the kernel is also heating. When the water heats to
boiling, the popcorn kernel explodes releasing the popcorn as we see it
for eating.
ACTION PLAN
Learners will interact with family members at home when someone
is cooking in the kitchen to try to identify foods by their smell and taste.
Some foods may be felt with eyes closed for identification.
Learners may visit the local bakery to use their sense of
smell as the breads are baking. Is there a difference in the smell of
different breads as they bake? Discuss.
A chef may be invited to the classroom to prepare a simple
dish for students to taste. Can they tell what some of the ingredients
are? Discuss the taste.
Listen to the local high school band playing. Can some
of the instruments be identified?
Listen to music in the classroom. Can some instruments
on the recordings be identified?
Choose a marching song, symphonic music, etc. Have
learners play the instruments they make along with the music.
Learners may draw ½ of a shape, hold it up to a mirror at a
90-degree angle to see the other half as it makes a whole shape.
Learners may draw ½ of a shape. A partner may draw the
other half as they experiment with symmetry.
EXTENSIONS
Science-Math-Art Connection
Give learners 5 sheets of paper, each headed with one of the
five senses. Learners draw a picture representing each sense underneath
the titles. Magazines are used to find pictures to complete each sense
page. Construction paper covers may be applied.
Language Arts-Math
Give each learner a step book consisting of five pages.
Page 1 is the cover. Each learner writes a sense title word at the bottom
of the five remaining pages. They may use invented or actual spelling of
things they can or would like to see, hear, feel, touch and taste. They
count how may things they have written and write the total on each page.
Listening Center - Art - Critical Thinking
Learners listen to a teacher prepared tape of sounds. As
they hear a sound, they draw what they think made the sound.
Science - Art (Home-School Connection) - Sense
Shape Books Make books in the shape of the sense organs.
(This may be done by the teacher or students.) Each book can have three
(3) or more pages. Learners take the books home one at a time and tape or
glue objects on each page that have to do with that sense. Books are
returned the next day so that each learner may share his/her sense book
collections with classmates.
Internet
http.//www.yahooligans.com/Science_and_Oddities/
Living_Things/Biology/Anatomy
Bibliography
Aliki, My Five Senses
Carle, Eric, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What
Do You See?
Hoban, Tana, Is It Rough? Is It Smooth? Is
It Shiny?
Martin, Bill Jr. and Archambault, John, Here Are
My Hands
Showers, Paul, The Listening Walk
Williams, Rozanne Lanczak, What's Going On?
Williams, Rozanne Lanczak, Where Are You
Going?
Updated: April 01, 2008
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