Investigating Your 5 Senses
45 Minute Health Lesson
Science-to-Go! Program
Grades: PreK-1
TEACHER GUIDE
Investigating Your 5 Senses
Description
Objectives
Explore the five senses all humans share and
how they work. Enjoy using hands-on props
and activities to experiment with your
senses. Touch, smell, look and listen to
discover the wonders of the world around
you.
 Name the five senses and the organs
that make them possible
 Describe ways that our senses can keep
us safe
 Explain the importance of your brain and
how it works with your senses
Ohio’s Learning Standards
Pre-Kindergarten: Cognition and General Knowledge – Science Inquiry & Application
 Observe, hold, touch and manipulate objects
 Engage in simple investigations
Kindergarten: Life Science - Physical and Behavioral Traits of Living Things
 Living things have physical traits and behaviors, which influence their survival.
Kindergarten: Science - Inquiry and Application
 Employ simple equipment and tools to gather data and extend the senses
 Communicate about observations, investigations and explanations
Grade 1: Life Science - Basic Needs of Living Things
 Living things have basic needs, which are met by obtaining materials from the physical
environment.
Grade 1: Science - Inquiry and Application
 Employ simple equipment and tools to gather data and extend the senses
 Communicate about observations, investigations and explanations
National Health Education Standards
Pre-Kindergarten-Grade 2: Standard 1
 Students will comprehend concepts related to health promotion and disease prevention
to enhance health.
Pre-Kindergarten-Grade 2: Standard 4
 Students will demonstrate the ability to use interpersonal communication skills to
enhance health and avoid or reduce health risks.
Produced and published by the Education Division
1 Wade Oval Dr., University Circle, Cleveland, OH 44106 7/26/16
How to Set Up Your Room
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Please have student desks clear before the program begins.
Please provide an empty desk or small table for the museum educator to set up display
items.
If booking multiple programs, transitions will be easier if museum staff sets up in only one
location.
Introduce the vocabulary and additional resources provided below.
Vocabulary
brain – large mass of nerve tissue in the skull of animals that controls their moving, thinking, and
five senses.
disability – A condition that makes a person unable or have difficulty doing what others consider
daily or normal activities. This could be a physical or mental difference in the person’s body that
happened because of an illness or injury.
handicap – refers to a physical or mental disability a person may have. (“He or she is a person
who is handicapped”) Not the preferred way to describe a person with a physical or mental
disability.
nerves - these are the tissues that transmit sensations to the brain.
person who is disabled – this is the acceptable/preferred way of referring to a person who is
living with a disability (instead of “a disabled person”)
senses – any method of receiving impressions or information through certain body organs.
Extension Activities
1. Included with this guide are two activity sheets, “The Nose Knows” and “Talking Fingers”. You
may use them as either pre- or post-activities to your program.
 During the “Just Senseless” program your instructor will introduce the idea of naming a
person before their disability. Use the handout “No Labels, Please!” to reinforce this
idea.
Produced and published by the Education Division
1 Wade Oval Dr., University Circle, Cleveland, OH 44106 7/26/16
Online Resources for Teachers and Students
Click the link below to find additional online resources for teachers and students. These websites
are recommended by our Museum Educators and provide additional content information and
some fun, interactive activities to share with your class.
CMNH Educators regularly review these links for quality. Web addresses often change so please
notify us if any links have issues.
Cleveland Museum of Natural History https://cmnh.org/edlinks
Educator Resource Center (ERC)
Materials for Loan
The Educator Resource Center offers
educator workshops, thematic teaching
kits, animal dioramas, and more for loan to
area teachers.
Contact the ERC at 216-231-2075 for
information on individual or school
membership.
Visit the Museum’s ERC website for more
information on workshops
https://www.cmnh.org/ERC
Hours
o Monday through Friday, 1 to 5 PM
o Wednesday, 1 to 6 PM
o Saturday, 9 AM to 2 PM
If you’re interested in additional resources
be sure to check out the following ERC
materials or browse ERC materials online at
http://cmnh.hosting.l4u.com
Related ERC kits for this topic include:
Science of Sound: Discover how sound is
created with tuning forks, books, rattles, and
more. Mystery sound boxes and eggs allow
students to guess which objects are creating
each sound.
The Body’s Many Systems: Props within this
health kit reveal elementary concepts in the
study of the human body, including
skeletal/muscular, digestive, respiratory,
circulatory, and nervous system.
Produced and published by the Education Division
1 Wade Oval Dr., University Circle, Cleveland, OH 44106 7/26/16
Investigating Your 5 Senses
The Nose Knows
How does your sense of smell work together with your sense of taste to make
food appealing? Try this tasty experiment and find out!
Objective: As a class or with an adult at home, compare the way different foods
taste when your sense of smell is blocked.
Materials Needed
• Apple, sliced/cubed, enough pieces for each person to have one
• Raw potato, sliced/cubed, enough pieces for each person to have one
Note: apple and potato pieces should be of similar size and shape
• Blindfold (optional)
• Jar of Vick’s Vapor-Rub, Mentholatum, or other menthol scented rub
• Familiar snack food, enough pieces for each person to have one
Activity 1: Potato vs. Apple
1. Take turns. Have one person close his/her eyes, plug nose, and open mouth.
2. Place a piece of either potato or apple in student’s mouth.
3. With eyes closed and nose plugged, have subject taste the slice and guess
which one it is.
4. Repeat with the other slice
Think: can you tell the piece of apple from the potato while your nose is
plugged?
Activity 2: Vapors and Vittles
1. Have each person use a clean finger to smear a small amount of Vapor-Rub
under nose on top lip (wipe off finger to avoid getting Vapor-Rub into eyes)
2. Next have each person taste a familiar snack
Think: What does the snack taste like? Is it different than you remember?
Does food taste different when you are sick with a cold? Why?
Explain
• Flavor of food is more than just what tongues taste. Tongues only taste
sweet, sour, salty and bitter. Your brain also uses signals from what your
nose smells to tell you what food tastes like. These smells are also called
odors or aromas. When your nose is plugged during a cold, food will not
taste the same to you.
• Apples and potatoes have very similar textures: they are crunchy, a little
juicy, and have sugars in them. It is difficult to tell them apart without their
smells.
• Strong odors, like menthol, can overcome weaker aromas. In fact
scientists often use Vapor-Rub when they have to work with things that
smell bad. When you eat, it is the mix of strong odors and weaker odors
that give food its flavor.
Produced and published by the Education Division 1 Wade Oval Dr., University Circle, Cleveland, OH 44106 7/14/16
Investigating Your 5 Senses
Talking Fingers
People can use their hands to “talk” to one another. This is called sign
language. It helps people who cannot hear to “talk” and “listen”.
Objective: learn the hand sign alphabet and use it to spell your name
1. Write the letter of each hand sign.
2. Circle the hand signs for letters in your name
3. Use your hands to spell your name with hand signs
Just Senseless
Produced and published by the Education Division 1 Wade Oval Dr., University Circle, Cleveland, OH 44106 7/14/16
OBJECTIVE: Students will experience the use of derogatory terminology, and practice ways to
refer to a person before their disability.
SUPPLIES NEEDED:
One note card for each student
One pencil for each student
Chalkboard & chalk
DIRECTIONS:
Have the students help you to brainstorm a list of various disabilities, and write them on
the board. Next, brainstorm a list of derogatory words or phrases often used to describe people
with those disabilities, and write these words on the note cards.
EXAMPLE:
CEREBRAL PALSY (Unkind words could be “retard”, “stupid”, “slow”,
cripple”, “special kid”, “handicapped”, etc.)
Have the students sit in a circle, and give each student a card WITHOUT them looking at
it. Count to three, and have each student put the card, with the writing facing out, up to their
forehead. Students should point and yell at other students, using the words on their cards.
Encourage them to really yell at each other, the way that a bully might use the unkind words to
hurt someones’s feelings. Allow this to continue for a minute, then call a stop and have the
students look at their own cards.
Explain that these words are commonly used to refer to people with disabilities. Tell the
students that even the word “handicapped” has an unkind history. Years ago, the only way
people with disabilities could survive was to beg for money, and many would use a cap to hold
out for change. It was said that they were “handy with a cap”, or “handicapped”. Ask the
students if all people with disabilities have to beg on the street, or if they can have a job and go to
school like other people.
Have the students practice referring to a person, before their disability. Use your list on
the board to help.
EXAMPLE:
Down’s Kid
Handicapped girl
vs.
vs.
A child with Down Syndrome
That girl who is disabled
SUGGESTED QUESTIONS:
How did it feel when everyone was calling you names?
Have you ever been called one of these words before?
Have you ever called anyone else one of these words?
How can we remember to use kind language with people we meet?