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Five Senses

Activities for young children

Activities by Radiance Klein, Rico Bohren, Samantha, Fisher & Kristi Koerselman    

4 eyes see more than 2.

Introduction

Contents Overview

A sequence of activity plans for young children to review and facilitate a deeper understanding of our five senses and the words we use to describe what we observe with them. It connects the importance of senses and observations to identify objects and their properties to more accurately understand the world and create explanations for their experiences. Explanations which can be scientific when reasoning uses repeatable observation to create explanations. Ideas to be used as a foundation to gain skill with scientific processes to inquire and investigate our world.

Related topics of study:

Planning information

Learner background information

A plan designed for learners who have limited prior knowledge in cause and effect, use of observations to identify properties, and working in groups.

General information on planning

Intended learnings & learners thinkings

Content Big ideas, concept & facts, & outcomes
(Source concepts & misconceptions)

Big ideas and specific outcomes:

  • Our sense are used to identify individual objects and their properties to name them, understand about them, and classify them to provide order to our world.

Concepts and facts

  • Our sense include sight, touch, smell, taste, and hearing.
  • Each sense observes and interprets different properties.

Outcome

Use vocabulary to describe observable properties they sense

Words to describe properties observed through seeing:

bright, dull, shiny, dazzle, dingy, sparkle, wavy, gnarled, smooth, rough, cloudy, transparent, translucent, opaque, clear, shady, light, dark, dreary, crooked, flashing, narrow, wide, wrinkled, blinking, vibrating, moving, still, fast, slow, glowing, jagged, sharp 

Words to describe properties observed through touching:

smooth, rough, bumpy, sticky, soft, hard, solid, firm, cool, cold, warm, slimy, slippery, freezing, damp, prickly, sharp, wet, light, weight, heavy, crisp, hot, tickle, dry, furry, jagged, crunchy, scalding, sandy, pointy 

Words to describe properties observed through listening:

rattle, cry, shriek, crash, bang, boom, snap, crackle, pop, fizz, ping, pong, ding, dong, singing, splash, drip, squeak, sqwack, squeal, gasp, creak, croak, chirp, roar, buzz, whispers

Words to describe properties observed through smelling:

smoky, musty, damp, acrid, sweet, sour, grassy, woody, fresh, outdoorsy, hospital, alcohol, pungent, rotten, spicy, sweaty, skunky, burnt 

Words to describe properties observed through tasting:

sweet, sour, salty, bitter, spicy, peppery, savory, rich, salty, hot, medium, cool, crunchy, creamy, cold, fizzy, juicy, dry, slimy, goushy, tasty 

Science concepts: physical, earth, life

Big ideas:The properties of objects that we sense are used to identify individual objects and to classify them. Such as tastes, smells, touches, shapes, color, living, non living, ...

Related concepts

  • Objects in the world (physical, earth, and life science) are identified and described by the properties observed with our senses.

Outcome

  1. Recognize objects in the world related to physical, earth, and life science and identify their properties.

Specific outcomes

  • Your skin allows you to sense by touch.
  • Humans need light in order to see.
  • You use both your tongue and your nose to taste.
  • All sounds are made by something vibrating.
  • People have noses, which are body structures, which enable them to sense smell.

 

Anticipated learner thinkings & misconceptions

Check topics in the different dimensions of the science knowledge base.

Inquiry, process, & cross cutting concepts & skills

Inquiry

  • When I explore the world I collect observations with my senses to identify objects and describe their properties,. This helps me make claims and explain what is happening to predict what might happen in the future.
  • Inquiry concepts
  • Process concepts
  • Perspective concepts

Cross cutting

Observation & properties

Big idea

Humans use their senses to gather information about the world around them.

See also Concepts & misconceptions

Related concepts and facts

  • There are 5 senses and we associate a body part with each sense.
    1. Sight (bright, dull, small, large, round, square, etc.),
    2. Smell (good, bad, questionable),
    3. Hearing (loud, soft, high pitch, low pitch),
    4. Taste (bitter, sour, sweet, salty), and
    5. Touch (rough, smooth, bumpy, soft, furry, etc)).
  • Senses are actively used to seek accurate observations of different properties and choose appropriate sense words to label, describe, and communicate information about objects to better understand the world.
  • Information we get from with our senses are caused by the properties of the objects we are sensing (observing).
  • Evidence is something that is observed with our senses and can be used to understand what is happening and make predictions about future changes.
  • Explanations are based on observations that we sense during our experiences.
  • Properties are used to classify objects.
  • Pictures or symbols represent objects.

Outcome

  • Recognize information is identified with our senses.
  • Describe objects by properties.
  • Recognize additional sensing can provide additional or more focused information.

Specific outcomes -

  • Recognize information is identified with our senses.
  • Describe objects by properties.
  • Recognize additional sensing can provide additional or more focused information.

History of science and development of technology - perspective of science

See also Concepts & misconceptions also science, math, technology timeline

  • People have practiced science and technology for a long time.
  • Science develops over time.

Scoring guides suggestions (rubric)

(scoring guide)

Top level

  • Actively use their senses to seek accurate observations of different properties and choose appropriate sense words to label, describe, and communicate information about objects to better understand the world.
  • Use their senses and describe properties with sense words to explain and communicate information about objects.
  • Remark - that's weird or different when sensing something unusual or unexpected and continue without wonder.

Lower level

(scoring guide)

Top level

  • Recognize science is a process that is based on observation and observation is base on our senses which we use to describe different properties with sense words to label, describe, and communicate information about objects to better understand and make predictions about the world.

Lower level

Sample assessment - What's my senses? Hint my name is indigo because ROYGBIV and my eyes are between blue and violet.

Strategies to achieve educational learnings

Based on learning cycle theory & method

Pedagogical Overview

Activities Sequence to provide sufficient opportunities for students to achieve the targeted outcomes.

Make sure learners have the prior knowledge identified in the background information.

  1. Activity 1 - Mystery Touch Bag
  2. Activity 2 - Clay Shaping
  3. Activity 3 - Feely bags
  4. Activity 4 - Hands Lens
  5. Activity 5 - Color Classification
  6. Activity 6 - What is missing?
  7. Activity 7 - Food Collage
  8. Activity 8 - Pepsi challenge
  9. Activity 9 - Smells, Smells, Smells
  10. Activity 10 - Smelly smells
  11. Activity 11 - Smell and taste
  12. Activity 12 - Paper Cup Telephone
  13. Activity 13 - Musical Instruments
  14. Activity 14 - Sound is vibrations
  15. Activity 15 - My Favorite Things
  16. Activity 16 - The Five Senses
  17. Activity 17 - What’s in the box?
  18. Summative / generative assessment - Dog's senses - summary sheet

Focus question

Unit focus question:

How do we organize and communicate our observations to understand our world?

Sub focus questions:

  1. How do we explain our observation?
  2. How do we name objects living and non living?
  3. How do we group (classify) living organisms?
  4. How do we study and learn about the properties of living organisms?

Materials

  • Materials needed for the activities are generally available in most classrooms or in most homes. Specific lists are included with each activity.

Resources

 

Plans

Activity 1 - Mystery Touch Bag

by Radiance Klein & Rico Bohren 

Materials

  • Collection of familiar objects, bags or socks to put objects in (touch bag)

Focus questions:

  1. How do you describe what objects feel like?

Learning outcomes:

  1. Identifies sense words that describe what objects feel like.

Procedures

  1. Put a collection of objects on a table. (They should be objects that can be described as soft, hard, rough, smooth, wet, or cool.)
  2. Tell learners. Line up and take turns feeling each object on the table and think how you would describe what it feels like. 
  3. Have them return to their seats and go through each object one at a time and record the name of the object and the sense words they use to describe the properties for each of the objects.
  4. Tell the learners they are going to do activities like this and make a word wall or class list of sense words.
  5. Begin by recording some of the words.
  6. If the learners suggest organizing them, then can do that. However, if they don't, then I would not rush into a set organization until they discover it. However you may want to make it so the words can be rearranged until you eventually get them to suggest to organize them by senses. Like in the sense words table.
  7. Divide the class into small groups and give each group a paper touch bag.
  8. Ask one child in each group to choose a classroom object and put it in the bag while the others close their eyes.
  9. You can either have the children feel through the bag or sock or look away when they reach into the bag.
  10. Encourage them to use words to describe what they feel, to include on the word wall, and have them guess what the object is.
  11. If they guess what it is, do not tell them they are correct or wrong. Continue with several more children until their is agreement as to what might be in the bag and until everyone has had a turn.
  12. Repeat the process with as many objects as time permits, then summarize.
  13. Ask. How were you able to identify objects in the touch bag?
  14. Encourage them to use descriptive words such as smooth, rough, hard, and soft to describe the objects and continue to add them to the word wall.
  15. Ask. Are there some things they should never touch?
  16. Discuss safety and reasons why they shouldn't.
  17. Tell them they will continue to explore objects with their senses.

Activity 2 - Clay Shaping

by Radiance Klein & Rico Bohren   

Materials

  • Clay, index cards, crayons or markers

Focus questions:

  1. Can you identify objects with your hands?

Learning outcomes:

  1. Identifies sense words that describe what objects feel like.
  2. Explain how they can identify objects by touch.

Procedures

  1. Group the learners into pairs.
  2. Demonstrate how to work with the clay.
  3. Tell them they are going to make geometric shapes, number shapes, or letter shapes.
  4. Have them work in pairs and use rolled clay to make circles, letters, and numbers.
  5. Have them place the shapes on index cards.
  6. Combine the pairs into groups of six and have them put their clay objects onto a table.
  7. Have them take turns with one of them sitting with their back to the table and eyes closed while the other group members randomly hold the objects in front of them to feel.
  8. With their eyes still closed have them touch each shape and guess what it is. 
  9. Repeat with all the clay objects in that group.
  10. Then have children in that group switch roles until everyone has a chance.
  11. May also want to change groups and repeat with more clay objects.
  12. If necessary remind them not to open their eyes until they have made their guesses.
  13. Ask them to describe what the difference is for them to tell the shape of an object with their eyes open or closed. 
  14. Ask. How were you able to tell the shape of the rolled clay with your eyes closed?
  15. Ask. Did we discover any more sense words that describe what objects feel like that we can add to our word wall?
  16. How do you identify things by touch?
  17. How could you find your way around the classroom if you couldn’t see.
  18. How would they know where the window was?
  19. How could they find the door?
  20. What other senses and body parts could they use?

Activity 3 - Feely bags

by Samantha Fisher and Kristi Koerselman  

Materials

  • Paper bag, several objects (roll of toilet paper, stuffed animal, socks, etc)

Focus questions:

  1. What is feeling?

Learning outcomes:

  1. Identifies sense words that describe what objects feel like.
  2. Describe how they were able to adapt to when they felt things with a glove. Needed more energy, had to focus, had to learn a bit more, could get better with time because we could adapt.

Procedures

  1. Group the learners into pairs.
  2. Have learners think of things that have different feels. rough = sandpaper, soft = their dog, ...
  3. Write their responses on the board.
  4. Ask, What do you think about your sense of touch?
  5. Ask. What things are rough, smooth, soft, hard, ...
  6. Put an object in a bag without them seeing the object.
  7. Based on their sense of touch, have them guess the object.
  8. Write down the suggestions of the object and see if anyone was correct.
  9. Ask. How are you able to see the object without actually looking at it? 
  10. Ask. How they knew what the object was based only on touch. rough, smooth, bumpy, soft, hard, hot, cold, ...
  11. Have them try the same thing with a gloved hand.
  12. How is this different from the first time?
  13. Is it easier or harder to guess?
  14. Why is it different this time around?
  15. What would you do if you woke up and your normal feeling was like that with the glove? Would needed more energy, had to focus, had to learn a bit more, could get better with time because we could adapt.
  16. Have them go on a scavenger hunt to find things that are rough, soft, hard, bumpy, furry, and other words that are on the word wall.

 

Activity 4 - Hand Lens

by Radiance Klein & Rico Bohren  

Materials

  • Hand lens, classroom objects, crayons or markers
  • Could print, distribute and have learners record observations in their own Little Book of Little Objects pattern.

Focus questions:

  1. How do we describe what we see?

Learning outcomes:

  1. Identify the eye, its parts, and how if senses different properties.
  2. Identify a hand lens as a tool for better observations.

Procedures

  1. Group the learners into pairs.
  2. Ask. What part of your bodies do you use to read books?  eyes
  3. Ask. What things can you tell about objects by looking at them?
  4. Record the words they give to decide later which ones should be put on the word wall.
  5. Have pairs of children look at each other’s eyes and describe what they see.
  6. Encourage them to talk about eyelashes, eyelids, the color of the eyeballs, the whites of the eyes, and so on.
  7. Distribute the pattern for the Little Book of Little Objects and explain how to fold it and how they can record their observations in it.
  8. Distribute hand lenses.
  9. Invite pairs of children to choose things in the classroom to explore, either using the hand lenses or just their eyes.
  10. Encourage them to examine their clothes, hands, hair, and other things that interest them and record their observations.
  11. Help them compare what they can see with the hand lenses and what they can see when they’re using only their eyes. 
  12. Ask. What objects look bigger or smaller?
  13. Can you see more details when you look through the hand lens.
  14. How does the lens change what they can see?
  15. Discuss what children learned by looking at objects.
  16. Was there anything they noticed by looking more carefully?
  17. How can your eyes help you?
  18. Ask children what they know about eyeglasses.
  19. How do they think eyeglasses might help people see?
  20. Add words to the word wall.

Activity 5 - Color Classification

by Radiance Klein & Rico Bohren  

Materials

  • Classroom objects of different colors, crayons, colored construction paper

Focus questions:

  1. How do we tell colors?

Procedures

  1. Divide the class into groups and assign each group a color.
  2. Place pieces of different colored construction paper on sections of the floor or tables. 
  3. Let each group gather together objects of its assigned color and put them in the matching color area. (You may want to give children small pieces of paper of each color for them to carry as they collect objects.)
  4. Choose some objects from different groups’ color piles that are exactly the same except for color. 
  5. Have several children close their eyes and hold one of the objects. 
  6. Can they tell what color it is with their eyes closed?
  7. What parts of their body do they use to see color?
  8. Have the students each pick three crayons. On a sheet of paper, have them draw one object that is the color of their crayons. (Each will have drawn three objects in the end.)
  9. Ask. Can different things be red and not be the same color?
  10. Discuss how color can vary.
  11. Ask. How would we add words for sensing color to our word wall? Need to decide if want to add all colors as a subcategory under sight or seeing ...

 

Activity 6 - What is missing?

by Samantha Fisher and Kristi Koerselman

Materials

  • classroom objects
  • Remove an object from the class before starting

Focus questions:

  1. How observant are you?

Procedures

  1. Group the learners into pairs.
  2. Tell. Think of some where you sleep.
  3. Do you think you would notice if something was missing from the space? 
  4. What are some of the things you would notice were gone? bed, clothes, dresser
  5. Why do you think you would notice them if they were gone? size, daily use, ...
  6. What are some things you might not notice? small toy, hair accessory, ...
  7. Why would these objects be harder to notice if they were missing or not?
  8. Ask. How important is to be observant?
  9. Ask. What do you think it takes to be observant of things around you?
  10. Ask. Do you feel you are observant?
  11. Want to test your observation and visual memory?
  12. Remove an object in the classroom when students earn’t looking or have their heads down.
  13. Give them time to try to solve the mystery, then ask. What is missing?
  14. You may ask them to find something that is round, square, rectangular, ... or have them guess something the teacher sees that has one of these shapes.
  15. Students keep guessing until the object has been guessed and the game continues until the students are better at their observation skills.
  16. On your way home today, try to notice if anything is different from the usual. (Did your neighbors mow their lawn? Did someone paint his house? Did someone get a new car? ...

Alternative is prepare a tray with 10-12 objects on it and cover it so no one can see what is on it. When it is time, tell them you are going to test their visual memory by showing them a tray of objects for one minute. Display the tray, have everyone position themselves so they can see it, then you remove the cover, and start timing for one minute. When time is up, cover the tray, and ask them what was on the tray?

Discuss ...

 

Activity 7 - Food Collage

by Radiance Klein & Rico Bohren    

Materials

  • Magazines with food pictures, scissors, paper, glue, crayons

Focus questions:

  1. What is

Procedures

  1. Group the learners into pairs.
  2. Ask. What body parts do you use to taste?
  3. Invite them to name a food that they like the taste of.
  4. Have each learner or pairs make a food collage by gluing pictures of different kinds of foods onto a sheet of paper. 
  5. Have them display their collage.
  6. Discuss the different tastes of the foods pictured.
  7. Encourage the use of terms such as sweet, sour, salty, and bitter.
  8. dd taste words to the word wall.
  9. Ask. Which tastes do you like best and which do you like least. 
  10. Tell. Let's make a lunch menu with something sweet, something sour, something salty and something bitter.
  11. Make a menu and include multiple items for each category as desired.
  12. Review words on the word wall and add any new.

 

Activity 8 - Pepsi challenge

by Samantha Fisher and Kristi Koerselman

Materials

  • glasses, Pepsi, Coke, and Mt. Dew

Focus questions:

  1. What different kinds of tastes are there?

Procedures

  1. Group the learners into pairs.
  2. Think about what you are having for lunch today.
  3. What kinds of foods are salty? Bitter? Sweet? Sour?
  4. How do you know what something tastes like?
  5. What taste do you like best?
  6. Ask. What soft drink do you like better, Pepsi or Coke.
  7. Ask. Would be able to tell which one you were drinking if you didn’t see it in its original container and wasn’t marked.
  8. Have the them taste the 2 soft drinks and try to label each based on what they know.
  9. Review how they did.
  10. What sense did they depend on?
  11. How did they classify the drinks? color, sweetness, Add new words to word wall
  12. Find out if they were correct and talk about why or why not.
  13. Have them go home and see if they do any taste tastes for what is for dinner without being told. Do the vegetables taste fresh or like they are from a can? Is their drink juice 100% juice, kool aide, or something else?
  14. Review words on the word wall and add any new.

 

Activity 9 - Smells, Smells, Smells

by Radiance Klein & Rico Bohren    

Materials

  • Classroom objects, crayons, paper, glue

Focus questions:

  1. How do you identify things by their smell?

Procedures

  1. Group the learners into pairs.
  2. Have pairs of children collect objects from around the room, including ones with subtle smell or no smell at all (pencils, erasers, crayons, paint, plastic, toys). 
  3. Have them take turns closing their eyes and smelling something their partner has chosen.
  4. Make sure to keep reminding them to keep their eyes closed until they have made a guess. Then they can open their eyes to see the object.
  5. Discuss the different types of smells children found.
  6. Write the words they use and add to the word wall.
  7. How easy was it to identify objects by smell?
  8. What objects had the strongest smell?
  9. What things had no smell at all?
  10. Which things had pleasant smell?
  11. Unpleasant smells? 
  12. Ask. How can smelling help them determine if there is danger?
  13. What kinds of smells might be signs of danger?
  14. Review words on the word wall and add any new.

 

Activity 10 - Smelly smells

by Samantha Fisher and Kristi Koerselman

Materials

  • 5 small containers or baby food jars, 5 cotton balls soaked in smells (vinegar, vanilla, orange juice, lemon juice, root beer, spices)

Focus questions:

  1. How do you identify things by small?
  2. What words do you use to label smells?

Procedures

  1. Group the learners into pairs.
  2. Close your eyes and pretend you smell something cooking in the kitchen.
  3. What do you smell?
  4. Are they good or bad smells?
  5. How do you know they are good or bad smells?
  6. Now think of something at home that doesn’t smell good.
  7. What do you smell?
  8. Put one cotton ball in one canister.
  9. Smell the containers one at a time.
  10. Ask. What household item do you think you smell?
  11. Ask. Why do you think your answer is what it is?
  12. Ask. How did you come to that conclusion as to what they smelled?
  13. Ask. Was what you smelled good or bad?
  14. Think of how you use smell to stay safe. gas, smoke, bad food, ...
  15. Review what word they used to describe the properties of smell and add new words to the word wall.

 

Activity 11 - Smell and taste

by Samantha Fisher and Kristi Koerselman

Materials

  • toast, onion, or orange, paper plate, napkin, small container, small zip-lock baggie, spoon, glass of water
  • 2 containers with mystery powders (grape drink powder and spice powder),

Focus questions:

  1. Do you think smell and taste can work together?

Procedures

  1. Group the learners into pairs.
  2. Tell. Think about a time when you had a cold.
  3. Did everything taste the same as when you don’t have a cold?
  4. Ask. Why they think we don’t taste things as well when we can’t smell it?
  5. Cover a piece of toast, onion, or orange with napkin and ask each child to smell it without saying anything.
  6. Call on someone to identify what it is and ask how many agree?
  7. Are there other ideas?
  8. How can you be sure since you didn’t see or taste it?
  9. Do the same with the mystery powders.
  10. Have a learner spoon a small amount of the powder #1 into a partner’s open hand.
  11. Have the partner smell and taste the powder with his nose closed.
  12. Have them describe it.
  13. Have the partner smell and taste the powder with his nose open and describe it now.
  14. Take a sip of the water to rinse out mouth.
  15. Follow the same procedure with powder #2, but have the other student be the taster now.
  16. Trade so both get a chance with the powders.
  17. Have pairs compare their observations with their partners.
  18. Were they surprised by how things tasted when they nose was closed? Open?
  19. Have they ever noticed foods don’t have much taste when they have a cold?
  20. Have the them do the same thing now with a potato and an apple. Have them close their nose and taste both. Can they figure out what the foods are without smelling them?
  21. Name foods you have to smell in order to identify. (apple vs. pear) 
  22. Challenge: Take foods that look the same, but don’t smell the same. (sweetened and unsweetened chocolate, salt and sugar, etc.) Smell and taste to see if you really need to do both to figure out which is which.

 

Activity 12 - Paper Cup Telephone

by Radiance Klein & Rico Bohren    

Materials

  • Paper cups, string, pencils, tape
  • Phone or something to play a song.
  • Optional - Ear fact sheet

Focus questions:

  1. How do ears affect hearing?

Procedures

  1. Group the learners into pairs.
  2. What parts of your body do you use to hear? ear, head,
  3. What types of things would you hear at a parade?
  4. Tell. Place both hands over your ears while you are talking.
  5. Tell. Place one hand over one ear and talk.
  6. Have them discuss with their partner what happens to the sound.
  7. Discuss with whole class.
  8. Play a song on a phone or other electronic device.
  9. Challenge them find where the sound is coming from.
  10. When they do ... Ask. How do you kown the sound is coming from there? See or feel vibrations
  11. Ask. Do you think paper cups can be used as telephones?
  12. Will their partners sound far away or close by?
  13. Will their voices sound loud or soft?
  14. Distribute paper cups, string, tape, and pencils.
  15. Explain and demonstrate how to slowly poke only the point of their pencil through the bottom of both cups to make one hole in each cup.
  16. Place one end of the string through one hole and tape it to the inside of the cup.
  17. Do the same with the other loose end of the string.
  18. Then let them talk to each other using their telephones. 
  19. Suggest they try the telephone when the string is loose and again when it is tight and find out how it works best.
  20. Ask. How did their partners sound over the telephones?
  21. Did the telephones work better when the string was loose or when it was tight?
  22. Tell. Close your eyes and imagine an elephant’s ear. Pretend you have an ear like that. What would they hear?
  23. Have them cup their hands behind their ears and listen to music being played.
  24. Ask. Is their a difference?
  25. Explain why. .
  26. Ask. How is an elephant ear, your cupped hand and the cup on the string work the same way with sound?
  27. So ... the cup on the string works like an ear?
  28. What does it work like when you talk into it?the cups act like a megaphone or funnel and funnel the sound vibrations from your vocal cords, through the air, to the string. They travel through the string to theother cup and then the bottom of the cup vibrates and the rest of it acts like an ear and funnels the sound to your ear. Your ear funnels the sound to your tympanic membrain, it vibrates and sends electro chemical signals to your brain for it to interpret as sounds.
  29. Optional - Ear fact sheet
  30. Review what word they used to describe the properties of sound and add new words to the word wall.

 

Activity 13 - Musical Instruments

by Radiance Klein & Rico Bohren    

Materials

  • Paper plates, tape, gravel, pencils

Focus questions:

  1. What makes sound?

Procedures

  1. Group the learners into pairs.
  2. Ask learners to sit very quietly and close their eyes. 
  3. Drop various classroom objects onto the floor and have the children guess what each object is. 
  4. Distribute paper plates, gravel, and tape.
  5. Explain to children that they can make musical instruments by following these steps.
    1. Fold the plate in half
    2. Place pebbles inside
    3. Tape the plate shut
  6. Ask. How they can make sounds with their instruments?
  7. Encourage them to shake the plates, tap them with their hands or pencils, and tap them against something.
  8. Ask. How did the sounds of their instruments change when they were played in different ways?
  9. Have children play their instruments together in a rhythmic way. 
  10. Have the children cup one hand under the instrument while they shake it with the other hand. What do they feel?
  11. Tell. Place your fingers very gently on their throats and to hum.
  12. Ask. What happens? they can feel their throats vibrate.
  13. Review what words they used to describe the properties of sound and add new words to the word wall.

 

Activity 14 - Sound is vibrations

by Samantha Fisher and Kristi Koerselman

Materials

  • different size bottles, same size bottles, water, wooden spoon, 7-8 glasses that are the same shape and size

Focus questions:

  1. What makes sound?

Procedures

  1. Group the learners into pairs.
  2. When you listen to music, do you like higher sounds (soprano) or lower sounds (bass)?
  3. Why do you think you like that sound better than the other one? (Does it hurt your ears?)
  4. Fill bottles of different sizes and same sizes with the same and different amounts of water.
  5. Aks. What will happen if they blow across the tops of the bottles?
  6. Have them explore by blowing across different bottles and try to see if there is a pattern among the different sounds the bottles make.
  7. Sequence the sounds from lowest pitch to highest pitch.
  8. Ask. What was vibrating that caused the bottles to make different sounds. The air inside the bottles. If they say bottle have them hold it to see if they can feel it vibrate. And if they are holding it, then it shouldn't be able to vibrate.
  9. How can you say it is the air and not the bottle? Could feel thebottle and it wasn't vibrating.
  10. Ask if all the bottles had the same amount of air in them. No, the ones that had a lot of water had only a little bit of air
  11. Ask students how the amount of water affects the pitch of the sound. The more air there is, the lower the pitch.
  12. How does this relate to a school band? Tuba vs. flute. Tuba has a lower pitch and a flute has a higher pitch.
  13. Review what words they used to describe the properties of sound and add new words to the word wall.

 

Activity 15 - My Favorite Things

by Radiance Klein & Rico Bohren   

Materials

  • Crayons, art paper

Focus questions:

  1. What object in the room do you like?

Procedures

  1. Group the learners into pairs.
  2. Have small groups of children take turns searching the classroom for favorite things, and putting their treasures on the table.
  3. Have children describe their chosen objects, and talk about which sense(s) they used to choose an item.
  4. Encourage them to think about more than one sense.
  5. Talk about the children’s choices.
  6. Help the children to understand that they use their senses to choose their favorite things. For example - They use information from their senses often to choose foods, clothes, and toys.
  7. Ask .
  8. When do use hearing to make a choice? Songs, music, fireworks,
  9. What things do they choose by feel or texture? Clothes, shoes, hat, blanket, gloves, pets,
  10. What things by smell? food, soap, cleaners, clothes, bedding,
  11. What smells would they avoid? garbage, decomposing matter, bathroom odors, some chemical smells - sulfur, skunk
  12. What images or settings do they like to look at? sunset, ocean, lake river, forest, grasslands, desert, stars,
  13. What kinds of art would they consider hanging on a wall? sports poster, landscape, portrait, colorful designs, logos,

 

Activity 16 - The Five Senses

by Radiance Klein & Rico Bohren   

Materials

  • Crayons, cards (6x8 oak tag or art paper)

Focus questions:

  1. How do you use your five senses?

Procedures

  1. Divide children into five groups.
  2. Distribute a blank card to each group and have them make a picture card for one of the five senses. (eyes, nose, mouth, hand, and ear)
  3. Have children sit in a large circle, and distribute sense cards in a random way. 
  4. As you name things that can be sensed from a parade or other event, children holding sense cards appropriate to that subject should raise their cards.
  5. Then ask them haw they sensed it? (For example, if you say ‘Popcorn Stand’ children should raise every sense card. Children are able to see the popcorn (eyes), smell the popcorn (nose), taste the popcorn (mouth), touch the popcorn (hands), and hear the popcorn popping (ears).
  6. Whichever children have a card raised, ask for a short explanation of why or how they would use that sense at that particular place. Children can draw air images of what they see if possible.
  7. Then have children choose a place without telling what it is. Have them tell something they heard, saw, smelled, touched, or tasted, and see of others can guess the place. 
  8. Help them understand they get information through all their senses and that information is often called observations.
  9. Ask. What do you use sensed observations for? To know what I am looking at, what is around me, what ...
  10. How do you use observations in our life?
    • observations help us survive in our world, know where to go, what to eat, ...
    • Observations help us explore our world
    • Observations help us answer questions about our world
    • Observations are used as evidence to explain how things in our world work.
    • Science uses observations to gather information to use to make predictions about our world.
    • For example if we eat a grape and think it taste pretty good, we can predict the next time we eat a grape it will taste the same. And sometime we are right and sometimes we are wrong, but it is better than never knowing what will happen,
  11. Review word they used to describe properties of senses and add new words to the word wall.

 

Activity 17 - What’s in the box?

Materials

Focus questions:

  1. Can you identify objects without seeing them?
  2. How about without seeing them or directly touching them?

Procedures

  1. Group the learners into pairs.
  2. Ask. What sound would a cotton ball make if it dropped?
  3. What would a rock sound like?
  4. What are some things about a cotton ball and a rock that make them sound the way they do when they are dropped? properties: solid, hard, soft, fluffy, ...
  5. Place one or more like objects inside the container without showing the learners. 
  6. Tell. Try to identify the object inside by the sound it makes when the container is moved or shaken.
  7. Take turns placing an object inside the container and letting them guess the object.
  8. Ask. How did you determine what was inside the container?
  9. Ask. How do you know what the object was based on what you heard? properties - different objects have different properties and they make different sounds we can sense and compare with our memories of sounds we have heard. See sense words
  10. Ask. What words can be used to describe how you guessed the object correctly without seeing what the object was in the beginning. See sense words
  11. Ask. Do objects have the same sound. no
  12. What kind of properties most affects their sounds? The material they are made of, weight and size
  13. Review word they used to describe properties of senses and add new words to the word wall.

Support materials

What's my senses?

  • What senses do dogs have?
  • If Indigo could talk what are some sense words Indigo would use for each?

 

 

 

Dog five senses

 

 

 

 

 

Brain buster!

Suppose you wanted to test Indigo. You take three objects and wrap them in paper: a dog treat Indigo likes, a small hot wheel car, some legos between the size of the treat and hot wheel car and put them on the floor in front of Indigo. Describe what you believe Indigo would do and how Indigo's actions would be like a scientist.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Extra credit: Why is my name Indigo?

 

 

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