Sensational Senses

Standards

·         Science N.2.A.1 Students know how to make observations and give descriptions using words, numbers, and drawings. E/S

·         Students know humans and other animals use their senses to know their world. E/S

·         K.CC.4 Understand the relationship between numbers and quantities; connect counting to cardinality.

·         CC Language Arts 1.K.4 I/L Comprehend vocabulary using pictures, symbols, and environmental print.

Objectives

·         Gather information using their five senses

·         Know what body part is used to gather specific sensory information

·         Describe their observations, I see.. I hear… I can smell…

·         Identify, with help, the shape, texture, hardness. etc. of an object

Key Vocabulary

Observations—information a person collects or gathers using their 5 senses.

Materials 

Advance Preparation

1.  Buy produce
2. The stations need to be prepared ahead of time

Procedure

a.    Engagement (5 min): Explain to the students that today their job at the museum is to learn and have fun.  One of the most important things that help us learn is making observations.  Tell students they are going to practice making observations right now.  You are going to step out of the room and change a few things.  Have students take a good look at you and make sure they remember what you look like.  Go out in the hallway or corner and put on a funny pair of glasses and a crazy hat and hold a stuff animal in your hand or in some other way make 4 to 5 drastic changes in your appearance.  Then come back to the room and ask students what changes they observe (make sure to use the vocabulary you are trying to build). Try to have the students be descriptive about what they notice—what color are things, how many, what size etc.  Once the students have identified the changes, ask students what sense they used to identify the changes.  Guide them to seeing or the sense of sight.  Explain to students that we are going to be using all of our senses to make observations.

b.    Exploration (25-30 min): Set-up 5 sense tables for students to explore using their senses.  Students will spend 4 to 5 minutes at each station.  Have parents/chaperones help students record 1 or more observations on their clipboard using words, numbers or drawings depending on their skill level. Also have them count the number of items they observed at each table. 

·         Smelling table:  Have containers with different items like Sagebrush, cotton balls soaked in mint extract, banana extract, or fish sauce and two or three pieces of sand paper with different items scratched on them (cinnamon sticks, or garlic) for students to smell. Were there more or less good smells?  Were there more or less bad smells? Have students write the number of each type of smell on their t-chart. 

·         Seeing table:  Have a magnifying glass/bug box and a butterfly wing or something that has a lot of detail up close, a paper towel tube with colored cellophane on it. Have prism goggles or fly eyes for students to look through. Students can draw a picture of what they see.  Ask them to describe their drawing.  Have 2 pictures and have students find the differences. Have a memory station where students have to look at a box of objects. Have an adult/chaperone take something away and have the students identify what is missing.

·         Tasting table:  Cut up a pear, jicama, and a potato—what do you notice about the tastes?  Give students a pinch of salt and have them make guesses about what it is.  Then give them a shake of sugar.  Have lemons pieces and raisins available for kids to try.  Have students sample some baking cocoa/chocolate. Is it different then they thought it would taste why or why not.  Have students draw a picture of each taste: salty (salt), sweet (raisins, pair or jicama), sour (lemon), and bitter (baking chocolate) on the tongue map.  Have a list of words they can use to match with the items: Sweet, salty, bitter, tangy, spicy, yucky, yummy etc.  Have mirrors available for students to observe their tongues after they taste each item.  It will help them see their taste buds.

·         Hearing table:  Have several containers with different materials inside (cheerios, beans, sand, and pennies.  Have the students predict what they hear.  Have a tape player with a dog barking, a river babbling, and child laughing. Put out a maraca and a rain stick. Have students make predictions about what they hear. 

·         Touching Table:  Have students put their hands into paper bags with different items for them to identify: cotton balls, feathers, pine cones, and bouncy balls. Have students make prediction on what they are feeling. Have students feel different types of material and have them organize them from the softest to the roughest.  Help them describe an object using words like hard or soft, words to describe texture—fluffy, rough, sandy, and shape of the object.

As students are working in groups it is important to ask guiding questions.  Why is it important to observe things?  Why do scientists, artists, and musicians need to have good observation skills?

Throughout their investigation asks questions about why we observe?  Who makes observations in real life?  Why is it important scientists make good observations?  Why it is important to share our observations with a friend or teacher?

Resolution

      Write the definition of an observation on the board. An observation is information we gather using our 5 senses: hear, smell, see, touch, or taste. Have students write the word on their clipboard and draw pictures/symbols of each sense to help them remember it.  If students can’t write yet have them draw a picture of the word. 

Or: In groups or as a class pick a student to roll a “5 senses dice” (1 that says it’s your choice).  The student then has to say one action that symbol does.   For example: mouth, mouth taste chocolate.  Encourage students to make observations throughout their museum exploration, but remind them scientists don’t use their sense of taste because we can taste something that isn’t good for us or is dirty.  Only taste something if your educator says it is okay. 

Assessment Questions:

Can you name each sense we use to make observations?

How are making careful observations important to learning?

Can you describe a time when you would use only 1 or 2 of your senses to make an observation?

Adaptations

ELL/ESL: 4.4 Follows a simple direction to perform a task in English. Read, model, and guide practice, use pictures, use manipulative and guided drawings.

Special Education: Have student work together in groups with other students.  Have students observe less or more items as dictated by their learning rate.

Gifted and Talented: Have these students make quantities comparisons at each table are there more, less or an equal amount of something. 

Literacy connections

(If time): Read the story 5 senses. Talk about how scientists gather information with their senses called observations.

References