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Welcome to Investigating Science—Five Senses! This book is one of six must-have resource books that support the National Science Education Standards and are designed to supplement and enhance your existing science curriculum. Packed with practical cross-curricular ideas and thought-provoking reproducibles, these all-new, content-specific resource books provide preschool and kindergarten teachers with a collection of innovative and fun activities for teaching thematic science units.

Cross-curricular thematic units found in this book:• Five Senses at the Zoo• Five Senses at the Bakery• Five Senses in the Garden• Five Senses in the Woods• Five Senses at Home

Included in this book:Investigating Science—Five Senses contains five cross-curricular thematic units, each containing• Background information for the teacher• Easy-to-implement instructions for science experiments and projects• Student-centered activities and reproducibles• Literature links• Easy-to-use icons

Sense of smell Sense of hearing

Sense of sight Sense of touch

Sense of taste Multiple senses

About This Book

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Youngsters will go wild over the animal-related activities in this “sen-zoo-ry” unit!

Put Me in the Zoo!(Comparing Similarities and Differences)

Youngsterswillstandinlinetojointhiswildactivityastheycomparethefivesensoryorgansofananimaltothoseofaperson.Inadvance,gatheravarietyofmagazineswithpicturesofanimalsandpeople,alargesheetofbulletinboardpaper,scissors,andglue.Drawasimplezoocageonthebulletinboardpaperasshown.Discusswithyoungstersthefivesensesandthebodypartusedforeachsense(eyes, ears, nose, hands, tongue).Thenhaveeachchildcutoutseveralmagazinepicturesofanimalandhumanbodypartsassociatedwiththefivesenses.Asaclass,observethepicturesofanimalearsandhumanears;thendiscusshowtheyaresimilarandhowtheyaredifferent.Youmaywanttorecordstudents’answersonachart.Repeatthecomparisonactivitywitheachremainingbodypart.Theninvitesmallgroupsofyoungsterstogluetheirbodypartcutoutsontothezoocagetocreatesillymixed-upcharacters.Titlethebulletinboardpaper“OurMixed-UpZoo”anddisplayforalltoenjoy.

Zoo TalesAnimal Senses: How Animals See, Hear,

Taste, Smell and FeelbyPamelaHickmanBusy Bunnies’ Five SensesbyTeddySlaterA Children’s ZoobyTanaHobanMy Visit to the ZoobyAlikiTouch bySueHurwitz

Five Senses at the Zoo

Background for the Teacher

• Thefivemainexternalsenses(sight,hearing,smell,taste,touch)helpusunderstandwhatishappeninginourenvironment.Eachsenseiscontrolledbyadifferentsenseorgan(eyes,ears,nose,tongue,skin).

• Sightisthemostimportantsenseforlearningabouttheworldaroundus.Weuseoureyesinalmosteverythingwedo.

• Hearingmakesitpossibleforustocommu-nicatewithothersthroughspeech.Hearingalsoalertsustodangerandprovidespleasuresuchaslisteningtomusic.

• Smellinghelpsusrecognizewhatishap-peningaroundusandhelpsusrecognizefood.Smelliscloselyrelatedtotastebecauseweusuallysmellandtastefoodatthesametime.

• Tastingfoodhelpsdeterminewhatandhowmuchweeat.Weoftensmellandtastefoodsimultaneously,sowhenwehaveastuffynosesomefoodsmaytastesimilar.

• Touchinghelpsusdeterminetheshapeandtextureofobjects.Wecanalsofeelwarmth,coldness,andpainthroughtouch.

Our Mixed-Up Zoo

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The Petting Zoo( Fine-Motor Skills, Sense of Touch)

Do pettheseanimals!Thisfunflapbookletwilltickleyoungsters’senseoftouchastheycompareanimalcoverings.Readthetextoneachbookletpagetostudentsandthenhelpthemfollowthedirectionsbelow.(Forsafetyreasons,remindeachchildnottoputanyoftheartmaterialsintohismouth.)

Directions: 1. Colorandcutoutbookletpage1andthe

correspondingflap.Gluethefeatherontotheparrot.Gluetheflapwhereindicated.

2. Colorandcutoutbookletpage2andthecorrespondingflap.Gluethefurontothesquare.Gluetheflapwhereindicated.

3. Colorandcutoutbookletpage3andthecorrespondingflap.Gluethesandpaperontothesquare.Gluetheflapwhereindi-cated.

�. Colorandcutoutbookletpage�andthecorrespondingflap.Gluethelatexontothesquare.Gluetheflapwhereindicated.

�. Drawyourselfinthespaceprovidedonbookletpage�.Colorandcutoutthepage.

6. Personalize,color,andcutoutthebook-letcover.Thensequencethepagesandstaplethemtogetheralongtheleftside.

7. Sharethebookletwithapartnerandcomparehowyourskinfeelstohoweachanimal’sskinfeels.

Materials for each child:copyofpages9–12smallcolorfulfeather1"squareofsandpaper1"squareoffauxfur1"squareofalatexglovescissorsgluecrayons

name _____________________________

The Do-Touch Zoo!

Look up in a tree to see my colorful feathers! 1

Ashley

In the water I swim free. My skin is rough, just like me! 3

Look at me! I am king of the jungle with very soft fur. Don’t you agree?

The zoo has many animals to see. But not one

animal feels like me!

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Leaping out of the water is fun to me. My skin issmooth as can be!

Follow Your Nose(Language Activity, Sense of Smell)

Pretendingtobeazooanimalsniffingtoidentifyasnackwillhelpyoung-stersunderstandtheimportanceofthesenseofsmell.Toprepare,collectenougheggcartonstocutoutaclasssupplyofsingleeggcups.Alsogatherribbonandaselectionofaromaticfoodsthatzooanimalsmayeat,suchas

oranges,apples,bananas,spinachleaves,andtuna.Puteachtypeoffoodintoaseparateresealableplasticbag.Next,giveeachchildaneggcupandhavehimdecorateittoresemblethenoseofhisfavoritezooanimal.Helpeachchildpunchaholeineachsideofthecupandthentieontwolengthsofribbonasshown.Thenhavehimholdhisanimalnoseinplaceasyoutietheribbonaroundhishead.

Inviteeachofyourlittlezoofriendstositinacircleonthefloor.Thenaskthemtoclosetheireyesasyoupassaroundabagoffood.Askeachchildtosniffthefoodandthensayadescriptivewordaboutitssmell.Recordstudents’answersonachart.Aftereachchildhashadaturn,askeachtoguesstheidentityofthe

food.Repeatwitheachremainingbagoffood.Thendiscusswithyoungstershowanimalsusetheirsenseofsmelltofindfood.

To the Point(Sorting, Classifying)

Tickle,tickle,tickle!Whiskersandantennaemaytickleus,butoneoftheirrealpurposesistohelpananimaldetectmovementsandvibrations.Toprepare,cutinhalfonepaperplateforeachchild,andthenstapleonehalfontoeachremainingpaperplatetocreatetwosortingpocketsasshown.Discusswithyoungsterssomeoftheusesforwhiskersandantennae(seeexamplesbelow).

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Giveeachchildhersortingpocketsandthematerialslisted.Haveherusethepaperstripsandcrayonstodecorateonepockettoresembleananimalwithwhiskersanddecoratetheotherpockettoresembleananimalwithantennaeasshown.Askeachchildtocolorandcutoutherpicturecards.Havehersortthepicturecardsintotwogroups:thosewithwhiskersandthosewithantennae.Thenhaveherplaceeachpictureinthecorrespondingpocket.Twitch,twitch!

Materials for each child:copyofpage133smallpaperplatesseveralblackconstructionpaperstripsscissorscrayonsaccesstoastapler

Whiskershelpacatprotectitseyes,moveindarkness,anddetectchangesinwinddirection.

Awalruspokesitswhiskersintotheoceanbottomtofeelforclamsorcrabs;thenitdigsthemupwithitstusks.

Insects,lobsters,andcrabsmayusean-tennaetosensevibrationsandheat.

Someinsectsuseantennaeforthesenseofsmell.

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I’m All Ears!(Experiment, Sense of Hearing)

This“ear-y”activitywillteachyoungstersthatlargeearscanbeapositiveattribute.Explaintostudentsthattheouterpartoftheear,theauricle, helpsinhearingbecauseitgatherssoundandsendsittotheeardrum.Some

animals(suchaselephants,hares,bats,andfoxes)havelargeearsthathelpincreasetheirsenseofhearing.Haveeachchildholdonecupclosetoherearandthenexperi-mentlisteningtodifferentsounds(music,talking,outdoornoises,etc.).Askherto

comparethedifferenceinlisteningtosoundsusingthecupandlisteningto

soundswithoutthecup.Thenhaveherfollowthedirectionsbelowtocreateasound-absorbinganimal

earsheadband.

Directions: 1. Onacoloredsheetofconstructionpaper,drawapairofanimal

ears(elephant,fox,hare,bat,etc.)andcutthemout. 2. Tapeoneearontoeachcup. 3. Tapeeachcupontotheheadbandasshown.(Makesurecups

arelocatedwhereyourearswillbe.) �. Wearyouranimalearstoexperimentlisteningtodifferent

sounds.

Materials for each child:two9oz.papercupswith

thebottomcutoutconstructionpaper(color

dependsonchild’schosenanimal)

constructionpaperhead-band,sizedtofitchild’shead

scissorscrayonsaccesstotape

Lend Me Your Ears(Listening Skills)

Youngsterswilllearnwhyakeensenseofhearinghelpsanimalssurviveinthewild.Inadvance,gatheratray,chartpaper,anddifferentnoise-makingitems(whistle,bell,rhythmsticks,rainstickoraplasticbottlefilledwithrice,cymbalsortwopanlids,etc.).Placetheobjectsonthetray.Inviteyoungsterstogatheronthecarpetandaskthemtolistenasyouidentifyandmakeasoundwitheachitem.Thenplacethetrayofitemsinanotherroom(oroutofsightinanothersectionoftheclassroom).Haveonechildatatimegototheitemsandchooseonetomakeasoundastherestoftheclasslistensintently.Challengeyoungsterstonametheitemmakingthesound.Ifdesired,haveyoungsterscomparetheintensityofeachsoundbywearingtheiranimalheadbandsfrom“I’mAllEars!”onthispage.Thendis-cusswithstudentshowlisteninghelpsanimalssurvive.(Listening helps them hear other animals or people who may harm them, and it helps them hunt for food.)