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English variety

The five senses

Around age 7 · Usually taught in ⁨Year 1⁩ · Free

Aprende

  1. We get to know the world through our senses. The five senses are sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch.

    sight: eyeshearing: earssmell: nosetaste: tonguetouch: skin
    The five senses and the part of the body for each

  2. We see colours and shapes with our eyes. To see, we need light: in a completely dark room, you cannot see anything. We hear sounds with our ears. We smell with our nose.

    We notice tastes with our tongue. The tastes are sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami, which is the taste of broth and cheese. The whole tongue notices all the tastes. There is not one area for each.

    the tonguesweetsaltysourbitterumami
    The whole tongue notices all the tastes

  3. The flavour of food also depends on smell. If your nose is blocked by a cold, food tastes weaker.

    We touch with our skin. We notice whether something is soft, rough, hard, hot or cold. There is skin all over the body, not just on the hands.

    The senses send what they notice to the brain. The brain understands it. Eyes and ears on their own understand nothing.

    seesunderstands
    The eyes send what they see to the brain

  4. Look after your senses. Never look at the Sun, not even with sunglasses. Do not turn the music up too loud. Do not taste things you do not know.

    To look after our eyes and ears

Worked examples

Ejemplo 1

Gus closes his eyes and hears a noise: ting-a-ling, ting-a-ling! It is the bell on Tony’s bike. Which sense is he using and how does he know?

ringshearsunderstands
  1. The sound reaches Gus’s ears.
  2. The ears send what they hear to the brain.
  3. The brain understands it: it is a bell.

Gus uses hearing and his brain understands that it is a bell.

¡Ojo! Many children think that the ears understand the noise on their own.

Common mistake

Ejemplo 2

Julie has a cold and a blocked nose. Ellie’s bread tastes bland to her. Why?

  1. Taste comes from the tongue and also from smell.
  2. With a blocked nose, Julie cannot smell the bread.
  3. Without smell, food tastes weaker.

The bread tastes bland to her because she cannot smell it.

¡Ojo! Many children think that taste is noticed only by the tongue.

Common mistake

Ejemplo 3

Vera says that bitter can only be noticed at the back of the tongue. Is that true?

the tonguesweetsaltysourbitterumami
  1. There are five tastes: sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami.
  2. The whole tongue notices all of them.
  3. There is no area for each taste.

It is not true: the whole tongue notices bitter.

¡Ojo! Many children think that the tongue has a map with an area for each taste.

Common mistake

Un reto para pensar

Close your eyes and ask someone to put three things from home that you know into your hand, such as a spoon, a sponge and a leaf. Touch them and guess what they are. Write down which sense you have used. Do not taste anything.

Practica

Rondas de 10 preguntas. Elige el nivel:

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