4.4.1  I can give examples of how we use our five
senses to gather information about the world
around us.

Duration: 40mins

What sense do I use to: 

a) find a blue crayon

b) watch TV

c) know that the church bells are ringing

d) know that the pillow is soft

e) know that an airplane is flying overhead

f) know that the milk has gone bad

g) know whether the water is warm or not

h) realise that my friend has a pleasant perfume

i) someone is at the door

Development:
1.Is it enough to have eyes to see?  Can we see without light?  How much light do we need?  Investigate by getting a box which has a peephole cut into one of its sides.  Put objects or pictures inside and ask the children to try to see the object when the lid is closed.  This we cannot do because there is no light.  Open the lid slightly and see if the children can now see what the object is.
2. Can we tell what an object is by touch even though we are wearing bulky oven gloves?  What if there is just a little difference between the objects we touch – would we still be able to identify the object by touch only?  (you can use pens, pencils, crayons or other objects which are slightly different from each other in shape / size / material)
3. Can we identify sounds correctly when there is an interfering noise?  A child listens to music using headphones (make sure music is not too loud).  Teacher strikes the desk with a ruler or marker a number of times and the child listening to the music has to try and count correctly the number of strikes (better if there are more than 4 strikes).
4. Can we taste an object if we pinch our noses tightly?  Using sweets (like Skittles), the children experiment by pinching their noses tightly, putting the sweet in their mouths, chewing and then after some chews letting go of their noses.  This illustrates the link between the senses of smell and taste.

Conclusion:  Senses are very important to us so remember to take good care of yourself.  How can we take care of our senses? E.g. do not look at the sun as this can damage your eyes, do not watch too much TV or spend too long on the computer, be careful what you touch, take care of your hearing as loud noises can do much damage, be careful what you put in your mouth; is it a good idea to taste something which you don’t know what it is?