The 5 Senses

   The Ladybugs have been discovering many interesting facts about "the 5 Senses". The children have spent time learning how each of their senses work. They can name the parts and attributes of the body that contribute to the senses and how important the brain is to helping them navigate in the world.  We also explored how we can adapt and navigate through life if one of our 5 senses does not work. We learned how each of our senses needs nerve endings to send important messages to our brain so that we get the necessary information we need every day.  We have been encouraging the students to delve deeper into how each of their senses works and why we need them. This was a very informative and enjoyable discovery process. Our I Think/I Wonder/I Discovered summary below gives a brief glimpse into the learning that has taken place.

I Think...
Taste buds on your tongue help you taste.
Hairs on your nose don't like germs.
Feel stuff to get info.
Feeling, looking, hearing, smelling, tasting.
Feel things with your hands.
Nose cleans the air.
Eyes look at everything, ears can hear, hands can feel.
Nose helps you smell.
All 5 do different things.
Ice feels cold.


I Wonder.....
If taste buds help us taste?
Are all 5 senses in front of the body?
Are all 5 senses all on my face?
Are there more senses?
What other sense does a platypus have?
Other senses?
Do sea turtles have senses?
Animal senses? Same or different?
How does feeling work?


I Discovered...
The nerves sends information to the brain fast.
Stuff on tongue breaks down food... saliva.
Eardrum sends messages to the brain.
Taste buds help you taste what you are eating.
That when you touch something, nerves send messages to your brain.
When you hear something, it's like a drum in your ear.
There are 300 million nerves all over skin.
That smell goes to your brain really fast through olfactory nerve cells.
Smell goes into your nose, through your nostrils, to your brain.
Your ear has an eardrum.
You can feel your way through something if you cannot see.

   The Ladybugs quickly moved into a brief Gingerbread Man unit, having fun comparing the many versions of the beloved story, decorating their gingerbread friends and adding simple sets of gingerbread men. During this busy holiday time, it has been fun seeing the kiddos expressing themselves during art periods and discovering the overall threads in the different renditions of the story that we have explored.


   And of course, we ended this week with a super sensation of exploration at the Tacoma Children's Museum and Snowflake Breakfast at Seabury on Friday morning. A real exploration of the 5 senses!