Sensory Sensation
School Activities
Smell
Sight
Taste
Magic spots
Spotters guide
3
4
5
6
2b Appropriate fielwork techniques
KS2 SCIENCE Sc2 Life
4a-c Variation and classification
processes and living things
KS2 GEOGRAPHY
KS2 SCIENCE Sc2 Life
5b-c Living things in their environment: Adaptation
processes and living things
KS2 SCIENCE Sc2 Life
5b-c Living things in their environment: Adaptation
processes and living things
KS2 SCIENCE Sc2 Life
5b-c Living things in their environment: Adaptation
processes and living things
KS2 SCIENCE Sc2 Life
5b-c Living things in their environment: Adaptation
processes and living things
KS2 ENGLISH En1
4 Drama
Unit
Animal sounds
Curriculum area
KS3 SCIENCE Sc4 Physical 3g Light and sound: hearing
processes
KS2 SCIENCE Sc2 Life
5b-c Living things in their environment: Adaptation
processes and living things
Activity Worksheet
Bats - echolocation
2
Worksheet
1
Sensory Sensation
Science shows how animals have adapted to use different senses.
SENSORY SENSATION - Summary
Downloadable Resource
Image of teachers guide
Where
Outdoors/Wyre
Outdoors
Indoors/outdoors
Outdoors
Indoors/outdoors
Outdoors
Outdoors
When
All year
POST VISIT
All year
POST VISIT
All year
PRE/POST VISIT
Winter
PRE/POST VISIT
All year
PRE/POST VISIT
All year
PRE/POST VISIT
All year
POST VISIT
Link to Wyre education programme
KS2 Animals in the Forest
KS2 Find Out About Forests
KS2 Animals in the Forest
KS2 Find Out About Forests
KS2 Animals in the Forest
KS2 Find Out About Forests
KS2 Animals in the Forest
KS2 Find Out About Forests
KS2 Animals in the Forest
KS2 Find Out About Forests
KS2 Animals in the Forest
KS2 Find Out About Forests
KS2 Animals in the Forest
SENSORY SENSATION - Worksheet 1
Activity 1 - Bats - echo-location
Echolocation
In the 1930s it was discovered that bats use high pitched sounds like a natural sonar to
locate food and to navigate. When these sounds bounce off objects bats are capable of
listening to these echoes and are able to judge the object’s distance, movement and size.
Bat Echolocation Fun Facts:
If you’re an insect flying 5-7 metres away from a bat in complete darkness - you’ve had it!
Humans generally cannot hear the high pitched sounds that bats make.
Some bats send echolocation sounds though their nose but most bats use their mouth.
Remarkably, bats prevent damage to their own ears by closing them at every wing stroke.
All bat species in Wyre use echolocation as they eat insects. (Although fruit bats in other
countries use their eyesight and sense of smell).
Amazingly even when thousands of bats are flying out of a cave they can still use their
echolocation despite the noise.
Different species of bats use different patterns of echolocation frequencies to find food and
to navigate.
You will need:
Blindfold
One person volunteers to stand in the middle of the circle with a blindfold on, and be the
bat. Two or three children are chosen to be moths. The bat shouts “bat bat bat” continuously
whilst tring to catch the moths (who are continually shouting “moth moth moth”) whilst
running around within the circle made up of the remaining children. Once the bat catches a
moth, the moth joins the circle. When all moths are ‘eaten’, another player becomes the bat.
Activity 2 - Animal sounds
You will need:
Envelopes
Printed cards
Map
Split the main group into 3-5 smaller equal sized groups. Give each group an envelope
with enough cards for each member of the group. Send each group off to a different area
marked within the vicinity. They open their envelopes to discover cards with animal names
printed on them. (Note: Each group has exactly the same cards). The cards are handed out
and each child runs around making the sound of their animal. The idea is that they have to
pair up with similar animals from the other groups and then in their new group get back to
a finish point which will have been pre marked on the map. The first full group back wins.
Did you know?
Sharpest hearing
The Owl: These birds have phenomenal hearing. Their large ear holes are at slightly
different heights, above and below eye level, helping them pinpoint the vertical positions of
sound sources. But what is truly astonishing is their reaction time. In complete darkness, it
takes tawny owls less than 0.01 of a second to assess the precise direction of a scurrying
mouse, for example.
Best hearing defence
Tiger Moths: Bats use echolation – to detect prey in the dark. However some moths, such
as the tiger moth have evolved super sensitive ears that can hear bats’ ultrasonic chirps. So
when they hear a bat closing in on them – they can take evasive action, often resulting in a
dramatic aerial acrobatic contest between predator and prey; which the bat should win. So
moths have become smarter. Instead of just taking evasive action, they emit sound back to
the bat, often emitting as many as 450 clicks in 1/10th of a second. Such action effectively
jams the bat’s sonar and confuses them, allowing the moth to fly another day.
Cuckoo
Raven
Fox
Cricket
Bat
Tawny Owl
Woodpecker
Honeybee
SENSORY SENSATION - Worksheet 2
Activity - Scent game
You will need:
10 tubs with lids painted black with small holes pierced in the lids and numbered 1 to 10
clearly
10 strong smelling foods (inc 1 inedible) eg:
Camembert cheese
Tuna
Egg mayonaise
Mint sauce
Tar/bitumen
Chocolate sauce
Coffee
Mushroom soup
Lemons
Curry
Sit the group around in a circle with a piece of paper and a pen each. Write down numbers
1 to 10. Pass the tubs around. Each person has 5 seconds to guess what is in the pot before
they pass it on to the person next to them. Once everyone has had chance to smell all 10
and write down their answers the tubs are collected and the answers revealed.
Did you know?
Best ‘mate’ detection
The moth: Imagine being able to sniff your future wife from 6-7 miles away. Well, that’s what a moth does
using its feathery antennae.
Best air sniffer
The snake: We’ve all seen a snake flick out its tongue. They do this because, unlike us, they smell with
them. So when a snake starts flicking its tongue rapidly, it’s a sure sign it has smelt something interesting in
the air.
Best bird sense of smell
Albatross: (not in Wyre!) Most birds rely on keen eyesight and have a poor sense of smell. The albatross is
one of the exceptions. This great bird spends its time hovering above the ocean on the look out for food.
And to help it do this, it has an extra-large nose on top of its beak. This over-sized honk helps the albatross
detect food floating on the sea, even when it is dark.
Awesome poo shooters
The caterpillar: Caterpillars can shoot poo with such power that it can land a metre away. One species, the
silver spotted skipper caterpillar (not found in Wyre), can even fire its faeces a colossal 1.5 metres from its
nest. In equivalent terms, that would be like us casually firing our poo straight across a tennis court. Apart
from being a great party trick, such ballistic poo power comes in handy against predators such as wasps,
who use a caterpillar’s faeces to locate their prey.
SENSORY SENSATION - Worksheet 3
Activity - Sight game
You will need:
Print outs of the animal silhouettes on A4 (minimum)
Masking tape or drawing pins to fix silhouettes to the trees
Find a position in the woods where you can see several tree trunks going into the distance.
Group members take it in turn to stand in one position and try to name the animal
silhouettes and write down the answers. The one with the most correct answers wins.
Did you know?
Sharpest eyesight
Birds of Prey: The eyesight of birds such as eagles, hawks and buzzards is 3-4 times
sharper than ours. Eagles can spot rabbits from several miles away while hawks and
buzzards often scan the earth from a height of 3-5,000 metres looking for tasty rodents!
And when they spot one, these birds can dive at over 100mph and still keep their target in
complete focus.
Best bird night vision
Owls: Despite their smaller size, owls have eyes almost as big as ours and their huge pupils
capture lots of light. In fact, an owl could probably spot a mouse on a football pitch lit by
a single candle. Secondly, like other birds, their brains can capture an ‘at a glance’ picture
that a human eye would have to scan back and forth to understand. However because their
forward-facing eyes are so big, they can’t move them. Which is why, like eagles, they can
swivel their heads 270 degrees - allowing them a wide field of vision.
Best colour vision
Birds can see ultraviolet light. A drab bird to us, may in fact be incredibly radiant to other
birds in colours we cannot see.
Best motion detectors
Insects: Whereas we only have one lens in each of our eyes, an insect can have hundreds.
Eyes likes these are known as compound eyes. And instead of seeing one clear image ,
each eye of the insect sees a little bit of the overall picture. Whilst our eyesight is far superior
to that of most insects, compound eyes are incredibly good for detecting movement. With
complete 360 degree vision, the merest twitch will be picked up by your common house fly.
SENSORY SENSATION - Worksheet 4
Activity - Touch game
You will need:
Blindfold
Blindfold one person in the group and then lead them to a tree. Give them 1 minute to feel
the tree and familiarise themselves with the bark and the girth of the trunk and the general
size and any distinguishing features (eg holes or branches). Lead them back to where they
started and then turn them round in circles 5 times. Remove the blindfold and then ask them
to try to find their tree again, using their sense of sight this time.
Did you know?
The most sensitive nose
Mole: This poor-sighted creature’s unique nose has almost six times more touch receptors than a
human hand and it uses its nose more for feeling than smelling. As it makes its way down a tunnel,
it sweeps its 22 fleshy tentacles back and forth with incredible speed touching 10-12 different
objects per second. And as soon as a tasty worm is detected, it’s eaten within milliseconds.
Most sensitive hairs
The cricket: When you have a lot of predators, it makes sense to stay alert. The cricket is helped
in this quest by possessing incredibly sensitive hairs below its abdomen. These hairs are able to
pick up the faintest change in air flows produced by attacking predators such as flying wasps and
running spiders.
Good Vibrations
The spider: A male spider will often cause the web of a female spider to vibrate in a special
manner to alert her that he is about to approach. The vibrations tell the female that the intruder on
her web is a potential mate and not a juicy insect ready to be eaten.
SENSORY SENSATION - Worksheet 5
Activity - Magic spots
You will experience so much more of the forest if you can be quiet and still!
Take a mat each to sit on or choose dry weather! Choose a quiet part of the forest –
perhaps along a deer or badger track. Choose a “magic spot” along the track so that you
are not near enough to anyone else to distract them or be distracted by them. (With older
children or adults you can be out of sight of each other). Sit still and in silence for 10 minutes
(or less with young children). When the time is up the person at the end of the line should
gather up the others.
Tell each other:
•
What you heard
•
What you saw
•
How you felt
SENSORY SENSATION - Worksheet 6
Activity - Spotter guides
You will need:
Print outs of Wyre spotter guides as follows:
Animal clues
Minibeasts
Birds
flowers
Spotting
Leaves
Butterflies
Plants
Aliens
move
pick or re
ase don’t
me - ple
and leave
Love me
Hedgehog
rest
m the fo
wildlife fro
Foxglove
aved He
rrel
Wood So
e
nemon
Wood A
droppings
Rabbit dr
oppings
Hazelnut
shell ope
(toothm
ned by Dor
arks aro
mouse
und hole
on shell
surface)
Bluebells
e Valley
Lily of th
lleborine
animal c
lues
wildlife fro
m the fo
rest
when yo
u
find me
u
when yo
find me
Bilberry
anesbill
Wood Cr
Narrow-le
Spotting
Love me
and leave
me - ple
ase don’t
pick or re
move
Fox-chew
ed
bird feath
ers
urge
Wood Sp
Fallow De
er droppin
gs
Hazelnut
she
(toothm ll opened by Wo
arks aro
und inside odmouse
of hole)
Badger fo
otprints
Images of downloadable
Spotting Flowers and
Spotting animal clues sheets
Owl pelle
ts
Fox drop
pings
Pine cone
s stripped
by
squirrels
Deer foot
prints
Snail sh
ells open
ed by
thrushes
t
y
grimon
Hemp A
Common
Spotted
Orchid
Toothwor
http://www.forestry.gov.uk/website/recreation.nsf/LUWebDocsByKey/
EnglandWorcestershireWyreForestAreaWoodlandsWyreForest
Print out of “What did you see in the Wyre Forest?” sheet (next page)
Take these guides with you when you visit Wyre and see how many things you can find.
Children should be encouraged to use all their senses to try and find things. This activity will
work best if they are encouraged to be quiet and use their sense of hearing and if they are
given a period of time to themselves to stay still and see what comes along.
TIP:
The “What did you see in the Wyre Forest?” sheet is a good one to use alongside other
activities that you might be doing in the forest.
What did you see in the Wyre Forest?
If you saw it, tick it!
Did you see anything else that was interesting? ____________________________
___________________________________________________________________