Our Five Senses

Capital Children's Museum
800 Third Street NE
Washington, DC 20002
Phone: (202) 675-4120

Instructional Unit:
As part of an ongoing unit on the senses, young children can learn much about their own senses in an environment that provides several and varied activities that are rich in manipulitives and are highly interactive in nature. A resource that provides such an environment is the Capital Children's Museum. Activities and experiences are numerous and are all "hands on".

Curriculum Unit:
Grade Preschool, K, 1
Science

Objectives:
1. The students will be able to identify the five senses of sight, smell, sound, taste and touch.
2. The students will be able to choose and participate in three to five different activities using a different sense.
3. The students will be able to categorize the museum activities by the sense they used during each activity.

Pre-Visit Activities:
1. Exploring the five senses involves some basic understanding of the parts of the human body associated with each sense. Class discussion and small group activities demonstrating what our bodies can tell us about world around us provides the foundation for further study and exploration.
2. Conducting such visits prior to the museum visit will provide students with the knowledge and understanding necessary to participate more fully in the sensory activities and exhibits.
3. Pre-Visit activities associated with with the study of senses could be but are not limited to experiences such as taste tests, cooking activities, freely boxes, smelling jars, listening activities, etc.

On-Site Activities:
Children will participate in choosing three to five activities and identifying the sense associated with that activity.

Follow-Up Activities:
1. Follow-Up activities would include sorting the class experiences by sense and constructing graphs showing which activities fall under which sense, our favorite sensory activities, a cooking activity and the recreation of some of the favored activities.
2. A "thank-you" letter to the Capital Children's museum complete with drawings of our favorite exhibits would provide further reinforcement for students as well as feedback for the museum staff.

Appendices:
None

Bibliography:
None

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