Smell and Taste Senses Lesson Plan

Lesson Overview: In this lesson, students will learn how the sense of smell and taste work together. Concepts will be solidified through an experiment in which students will sample a piece of food to determine if they can taste it when the sense of smell is altered.

Recommended Grade Level(s): Pre-Kindergarten, Kindergarten, First, Second

Objective(s): Students will be able to...

Determine that the sense of smell and taste work together.

Materials:

*Based on your needs, have up to 5 stations for students to experiment at. Each station should have the following:
paper plates (1 per pair of students)
small samples of the following: potato, pear, apple, onion (1 per paper plate)
blindfold (1 per pair of students)
Working Together Worksheet (1 per student)

Anticipatory Set:

Begin the lesson by stating the objective. Ask students if they have ever smelled something and seemed to taste it at the same time (without eating it). Tell students that that occurs more frequently than we think because our sense of smell and taste work together.

Guided Practice:

Using one of the sample plates, invite a student to join you in front of the other students. Blindfold the student and give him/her a taste of apple. Then a taste of potato. Ask the student to identify which one is the apple. Next, have the class predict if the student will be able to identify the apple while holding his/her nose closed. Have the student pinch his/ her nose and provide the apple and potato. Try this at least three times to demonstrate that while the nose is closed, the student may not be sure which one is the apple.

Independent Practice:

Tell students that they are going to further explore how their sense of taste and smell work together. Have students wash their hands. Tell students to pair up with their "Science Buddy". Each pair will go to a station where they will take turns blindfolding each other and tasting different fruit and veggie samples (just as it was modeled). As students explore each station, they are to fill out the "Working Together" worksheet. Direct students to close their noses on the guess that is marked by the nose image. On their final attempt, students are to sniff a piece of onion instead of holding their noses and see if their fruit/veggie guess is correct.

Closure:

Bring students together and discuss the results of their findings. Ask students if they were able to guess correctly. What were their experiences with the onion? Ask students to share what they learned about their sense of smell and taste.

Assessment:

Students will be assessed according to their ability to...