Lesson Plan

Topic: The Five Senses

1) Standards
K.1: The student will demonstrate an understanding of scientific reasoning, logic, and the
nature of science by planning and conducting investigations in which:
a) basic characteristics or properties of objects are identified by direct
observation;
K.2 The student will investigate and understand that humans have senses that allow them
to seek, find, take in, and react or respond to information in order to learn about their
surroundings. Key concepts include
a) the five senses and corresponding sensing organs; and
b) sensory descriptors used to describe common objects and phenomena.
2) Grade Level: Kindergarten
3) Objectives:
The Student Will Understand:

Our five senses help us to make observations about the world.

Our five senses help us to understand the world.

The Student Will Know That:

We have five senses: Sight, Taste, Touch, Hearing, and Smelling

We use our eyes to see
We use our ears to hear
We use our hands to touch
We use our nose to smell
We use our tongue to taste

The Student Will Be Able To Do:

Use their five senses in isolation to identify objects

Name each of the five senses
Match each sense to its corresponding sensory organ

4) Assessment
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Diagnostic: At the beginning of the assessment the teacher will ask the class to name the
five senses. She will then call out each of the senses and ask the students to point to the
part of their body that uses that sense (for example, when she says, Sight the students
will point to their eyes.) This will allow the teacher to see how much the students

remember from the introductory lesson on the five senses.

Formative Assessment: At each of the learning stations the students will be formatively
assessed as they try to distinguish items using one of their five senses. As the students are
at each station the teacher will walk around the room to monitor their progress, provide
assistance where needed, and provide feedback. The specific assessments at each station
are as follows:
o Sight Station: The students will use their sense of sight to find pictures in a
Wheres Waldo or I Spy book. The teacher will be checking to see that
students are actively searching at this station.
o Taste Station: At this station there will be cups containing an M&M, a pretzel, a
Sour Patch Kid, and a Red Hot candy. Students will taste each item and then sort
them according to their flavors (sweet, salty, sour, and spicy), using a worksheet
that is provided.
o Sound: There will be four opaque boxes containing different items that the
students will have to identify. The students will have to match the four items:
Cotton Ball, Cork, Jenga Block, and Golf Pencil to the box they think corresponds
with it. The teacher will provide the students with an answer key to check their
answers when they have finished.
o Smell: At this station there will be a smell kit containing different smells that the
students will match up to a corresponding card. They will then check their
answers by flipping over the cards.
o Touch: There will be boxes that students reach their hands in. They will feel the
items (sandpaper, pom-pom balls, dice, and Play Dough) and then draw or write

on a corresponding sheet what they think the item is.

Summative Assessment: After the students have been to all of the learning stations they
will return to their desks and complete a matching activity in which they must match a
picture that represents each learning station with the sense organ that they used at that
station. The teacher will collect the assessment and look to see that students can correctly
identify which sense organ they used at each station.
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5) Procedures
Introduction/Connecting to Prior Knowledge
The teacher will begin the lesson by saying, Hello friends! Today we are going to
continue learning about our five senses. Does anyone remember what our five sense are?
The teacher will call on volunteers to list the five senses. Very good class! Now I am going
to call out one of the five senses and I want you to point to the part of your body that uses
that sense. The teacher will call out each of the senses and check to see that the students are
pointing to the correct part of their body.
Tasks and Activities
The teacher will then say, Today we are going to go to centers to practice using each of
the five senses. I will send each table group to one of the stations and when I ring the bell the
time will be up and we will rotate around the room to the next station. Remember, when I
ring the bell, you should freeze, put your hands on your head, and listen for my next
instructions. Lets practice that. The teacher will ring the bell and the students will freeze
and put their hands on their head. Very good work class! We are going to move to our
centers in just a few minutes, but first I want to explain to you what we will be doing at each
station. Our first station is our sight station, what do we use to see? Thats right, our eyes! At
our sight station there are some I Spy and Wheres Waldo? books that you can use your eyes
to look for hidden objects. Our next station is our hearing station, what do we use to hear?
Thats right, our ears! At this station there are four boxes. One of them has a cotton ball, one
has a cork, one has a Jenga block and one has a small pencil. Your job is to shake the boxes
and figure out what is inside of them. When you finish, check your answers using the key in
the brown envelope. Our next station is the smell station. What do we use to smell? Thats
right, our ears! At this station there are these little containers and then cards with pictures of
things on them. You should smell the containers and match them to the correct picture. When
you finish, turn over the cards to check your answers. Our next station is the taste station.
What do we use to taste? Thats right, our tongues! At this station everyone should take one
cup. You should taste each item in the cup and then in the worksheet I have provided you
should draw a picture of what you tasted in the correct box. The first box says sweet, the
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second box says salty, and the third box says sour. So in the sweet box you should draw a
picture of the thing you ate that was sweet. Our last station is the touch station. What do we
use to touch? Thats right, our fingers! At this station there are things hidden in boxes for you
to touch. Reach your hand in and touch, and then on the worksheet at that station draw a
picture of what you think each item is. I will be walking around the room as you work to help
you if you have any questions. The teacher will then send the students by table group to
their assigned first station. The students will spend approximately 7 minutes at each station,
and they will continue until everyone has visited every station.
The teacher will then ask the students to return to their desks. She will give them each an
assessment and ask them to match each station to the body part they used at that station. She
will instruct the students to turn their assessments in to her when they have finished and to
read quietly at their desks or draw in their notebooks until the rest of the class is done as well.
6) Materials

Sight Station:
o Wheres Waldo books
o I Spy Books
Taste Station:
o 1 Dixie cup per student with 1 M&M, 1 Sour Patch Kid, and 1 pretzel
(substitute out for allergies as needed)
o Worksheet (See below)
Smell Station
o 1-2 Smell Kits
Hearing Station:
o 4 opaque boxes
o Cotton Ball
o Jenga Block
o Rubber Cork
o Golf Pencil
Touch Station
o 4 empty tissue boxes
o Play Dough
o Pom Pom balls
o Dice
o Sandpaper
o Worksheet (See below)
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Summative Assessment (See below)

7) Accommodations for Individual Differences

The following accommodations will take part during the lesson.

The worksheets used at the taste and touch stations, as well as the summative
assessment will have both pictures and text as support for students who are not able

to read proficiently at this point in the school year.

The students will be traveling to the stations in their table groups who have already

been differentiated so that higher achieving students can help those who struggle.
If any students have allergies, the teacher will give them specialized cups in the
tasting station to account for their needs.

Name_____________________________________________________

Taste

Salty

Sweet

Sour

Name______________________________________

Touch

Name________________________________
Match the station to the body part that you used there.

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