Lesson Topic/Subject: The Five Senses/Culminating Activity
Grade Level: 1 /2
Teacher: Michelle Curtiss

Objectives:

1. Students will identify the five senses. Knowledge.
2. Students will use their sense of touch, sense of sight, sense of hearing, sense of smell, and sense of taste to distinguish different objects, sounds, smells and tastes, and write their answers in the booklet. Comprehension.

Materials:

1. 24 copies of "Let's Investigate The Senses" booklet
2. 8 dark colored socks with 8 different objects in each one
3. 8 different objects covered with a towel
4. 8 film canisters with different objects
5. 8 film canisters filled with cotton balls and 8 "smells"
6. Sugar, salt, baking soda and flour (for tasting)
7. Paper plates and paper towels
8. Water and little cups
9. Pencils
10. Parents for help
11. The book Sense Suspense

Procedures:

Part I:

1. Tell students that today we will be "testing" all of our senses to see how well they work on their own.
2. Ask students what are the five senses. Ask students how could we test each one. (Use sense vocabulary: an object may feel soft, hard, rough, smooth, light, heavy, etc.)
3. Explain to students that we have five different stations set up around the room with experiments for them to do to test their senses. Tell students that I will assign them to a group, and they will stay with their group. I will tell them when they can rotate to the next station.
4. Tell students that I will be quickly describing what they will be doing at each station. Go by the station and show students while describing what they will be doing.
5. Tell students that the first station has eight socks with different objects in each one. Tell students that the socks are closed off with a rubber band so that they can't peek with their eyes. They will have to feel with their feet, so take off your shoes. Then, try and guess what is in the sock, and draw a picture of what they think the object is in each sock in the booklet that I will give them. Ask if they have any questions.
6. Tell students that the second station focuses on their sense of sight. A parent will show the students some objects on the table. Then, she will cover the objects with a towel and remove one of the objects, before lifting the towel. Tell the students that they have to remember which object is missing, and draw a picture in their book of the missing object. The parent will tell the children if they are right. Ask if they have any questions.
7. Explain to the students that the third station makes them use their sense of hearing. Tell them there are eight different film canisters filled with different items: cheerios, rice, a marble, buttons, a paper clip, beans, unifix cube, and pennies. The students have to shake the canisters and listen to what is inside. Then, tell the students that they will mark the number in their booklet of what they think the sound is. Ask if they have any questions.
8. Tell the students that the fourth station has eight canisters with different foods with distinctive smells. Each student will smell the canister and guess what it smells like. Either it will be a banana, an orange, an apple, cinnamon, vanilla, lemon, green pepper or an onion. They will draw a picture in their book of what their guess is inside. Ask if they have any questions.
9. Explain to the students that the fifth station has four different white powders: salt, sugar, flour and baking soda. The students will taste the powders and try and guess what it is. Tell the students that there will be glasses of water to rinse their mouths out because they may not like the tastes. Tell the students that they must swallow the water, and there will be no spitting water out. In their booklets, they will write what they think each taste is. Ask if they have any questions.
10. Ask students if they have any questions.

Part II: This may have to be planned for the next day.

1. After every group has been to all the stations, regroup on the carpet and open the socks up to see what is inside, and the students can see how many objects they guessed right.
2. Then have a class discussion about what all the experiments were for. Ask the students how we were exploring using our senses. Ask what they learned by using their senses. Ask what they liked about "Sensorama."
3. I also have a great sense book called Sense Suspense, which I will read to them if we have enough time.

Evaluation of student learning:

1. Did the class identify the five senses? Did students use sense vocabulary words for description of the senses?
2. Observe the students as they are at the stations and observe their booklets. Were the students able to use their senses to help them answer the questions as best as they could? Were the students interested in exploring? How well did they participate?