Understanding the Five Senses

EC4 students have been diving into their year-long Unit of Inquiry:  How The World Works. In this unit, students have been acting as inquirers who investigate the world around them. In the past three weeks, they have discovered that their five senses are one way to investigate.  This inquiry began by exploring different school gardens and having nature walks to explore their five senses. As we dove a little deeper, students showed enthusiasm as they shared their knowledge with others.

During an investigation of different textures, they felt different objects and explained the textures. They were able to recognize that one object might have more than one texture. As we moved to investigate different kinds of smells, EC4 students were able to experience many kinds of smells that they liked such as the smell of chocolate, lemon, and baby oil. 

Tasting the World: Sweet, Salty, Sour, and Bitter

EC4 students were such risk-takers as they investigated different kinds of tastes. They tasted different foods and then explained how they thought they were yummy or not yummy. Through some discussions, students were able to recognize four different kinds of tastes:  sweet, salty, sour, and bitter. It was a precious moment to see how their expressions changed when they tasted sour and bitter food. As a culminating activity of investigating the five senses, the students enjoyed making popcorn. Students implemented the vocabulary they learned to describe how the popcorn kernels had changed, smelled, looked, sounded, felt, and tasted 

Embracing the Role of Young Scientists

As this unit progresses, EC4 students will be investigating steps of being a scientist and implementing them to explore their world. It is a very engaging unit as students can relate and make authentic connections to their surroundings, such as with family, the focus of our next unit. At last, it is an encouraging to see how students are developing their social and language skills through discussions as they communicate their ideas, and learn from each other. 

Discover more interactive activities to engage children in sensory learning at SensoryEdg