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MY FIVE SENSES
It Smells
Children will learn about the sense of smell.
Lesson Objective
Children will learn about their nose and explore the sense of smell by describing and identifying different smells.
Science
What You'll Need
- Opaque plastic containers (empty butter, cream cheese, or cottage cheese containers) – 1 per scented item
- Cotton balls – 15
- Vinegar – 2 tablespoons
- Lemon juice – 2 tablespoons
- Vanilla flavoring – 2 tablespoons
- Almond flavoring – 2 tablespoons
- Cocoa beans or a few pieces of chocolate
- Coffee beans – 12
- Orange peel – from 1 orange
- Banana peel – from 1 banana
- Apple peel – from 1 apple
- Mint leaves – 4–6
- Cinnamon sticks – 2
- Scissors (adult use)
What To Do
Note: To prepare the containers, make several holes in the lid of each container with scissors. Put the pieces of banana peel, cinnamon sticks, mint leaves, etc. in individual containers and close the lids. For the liquid items (lemon juice, vinegar, and flavorings) soak two to three cotton balls with the liquid, place each flavor in individual containers, and close the lids.
- Begin with a container with a familiar item in it, such as the apple or the banana. Show the children the container and tell them that there is an item inside.
- Pass the container around and ask the children if they can guess what is inside without opening the container.
- Observe the children as they examine the container to see if they are shaking it, turning it over, trying to open it, or sniffing it.
- As they begin to guess what is inside, ask the children how they are making their guesses.
- Open the container and show them what is inside. Continue the process for each of the containers. For the liquid items, show the children the bottle it came from or a picture of a lemon, almond, or vanilla beans.
Resources
Home School Resources
Home educators: use these printable lesson PDFs to teach this lesson to your home schoolers. They're available in English and Spanish.
Content Provided By
Common Core State Standards Initiative – These lessons are aligned with the Common Core State Standards ("CCSS"). The CCSS provide a consistent, clear understanding of the concepts and skills children are expected to learn and guide teachers to provide their students with opportunities to gain these important skills and foundational knowledge [1]. Visit the CCSS
- There are currently no Common Core Standards for pre-k, but these lessons are aligned as closely as possible to capture the requirements and meet the goals of Common Core Standards. However, these lessons were neither reviewed or approved by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices or the Council of Chief State School Officers, which together are the owners and developers of the Common Core State Standards.
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