Teacher sheet · Ages 6–7 · about 45–50 minutes
My five senses
Lesson page: echoesof.science/school/senses/ages-6-7/ · Pupil worksheet: echoesof.science/school/senses/ages-6-7/print/
Learning aims
- Name the five everyday senses and the body part used for each.
- Know that the senses send messages to the brain.
- Know that smell helps taste and can warn of danger.
- Describe objects by touch alone.
Lesson plan
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 5 min | Starter: close your eyes and listen for 30 seconds. What did you hear? |
| 10 min | Read the text; point to eyes, ears, nose, mouth and skin. |
| 15 min | Mystery feely bag in small groups. |
| 5 min | Game: Which sense? |
| 10 min | Quiz and worksheet. |
Materials for the experiment
- A cloth bag or a pillowcase
- Safe objects with different feels: a sponge, a pine cone, a smooth stone, a woolly sock, a wooden spoon, a plastic cup
- A results table and a pencil
Safety: Only safe objects: nothing sharp, nothing hot, nothing small enough to swallow, no food and nothing that is alive. Wash hands afterwards.
Common misconceptions
| Pupils may think… | Actually… |
|---|---|
| We taste only with our tongue. | The nose helps a lot: food tastes less with a blocked nose. |
| The eyes make the pictures all by themselves. | The eyes send messages; the brain makes the pictures. |
| Touch is the same all over the body. | Fingertips have many more touch sensors than most other skin. |
Worksheet answers
- A face with eyes, ears, nose and mouth drawn and coloured.
- Smell (my nose).
- Less.
- Answers vary, for example: a pine cone, because it felt bumpy and hard.
Quiz answers
- Which part of you do you use to hear? Your ears. You hear with your ears.[1]
- Where are your taste buds? In your mouth. Taste buds are on your tongue and in your mouth.[2]
- Which sense can warn you about smoke? Smell. Your nose can smell smoke and warn you.[3]
- Where do your eyes send their messages? To your brain. Your brain turns the messages into pictures.[5]
- Why does food taste less when you have a cold? Your blocked nose can't help you taste. Smell and taste work together.[3][2]
Going further
Make a sound box: hide a bell, rice or a spoon in closed boxes and guess them by shaking. Which sense are you using now?
Sources used in this lesson
- [1] Anatomy and Physiology, 14.1 Sensory Perception (OpenStax, Rice University): reliability High
- [2] Taste Disorders (National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIH, USA)): reliability High
- [3] Smell Disorders (National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIH, USA)): reliability High
- [4] Our Sense of Touch: Two-Point Discrimination (Neuroscience for Kids, University of Washington): reliability Medium-high
- [5] How the Eyes Work (National Eye Institute (NIH, USA)): reliability High
Full list with links and a note on each source's reliability: echoesof.science/school/senses/sources/
Privacy: the lesson pages have no ads, no tracking and no cookies. Quiz answers and game scores stay in the pupil's browser. A short video for each age is coming.