MarcoGram January 2005 -- It Makes Good Sense

It Makes Good Sense
Our five senses help us to see, hear, smell, taste and touch. The strengths of these senses vary – some senses are more heightened than others, some can diminish with age and some might not be present at all. This month's MarcoGram pays tribute to the five senses that we often take for granted. Use the activities below to get your students thinking about how the presence or absence of the five senses affect their daily lives, then scroll down for more links and resources on this topic.

1. Ask anyone which of the five senses they use most and the answer might be the sense of sight. Americans invest billions of dollars a year in such vision-correcting goods and services as eyeglasses, contact lenses and refractive surgery, which restores visual acuity through the use of lasers.

The American Academy of Ophthalmology estimates that 63 million people in the United States are candidates for some form of laser eye surgery. Approximately 1.5 million procedures were performed in 2004, up from about 1.4 million in 2003. Ask students to use these figures to determine the rate of growth between the two years. (7 percent) Based on that rate of change, how many procedures will doctors have completed by 2012? (Approximately 2,560,720 procedures.) Ask students to depict 10-year growth increments in a line graph. Then, ask the school nurse to help you conduct eye exams with students, using the standard eye chart.

Investigate how vision helps us understand our world in:

"Exploring Linear Data" (7-12) from Illuminations, The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics

"Lasers Saving Sight" (9-12) from Science NetLinks, American Association for the Advancement of Science

"Light 3: All Those Seeing Color, Say Eye!" (6-8) from Science NetLinks, American Association for the Advancement of Science

Photo of a popcorn stand in Grundy Center, Iowa, courtesy of American Memory, Library of Congress (Digital ID: fsa 8b18534).

2. Few snack foods have an aroma as distinctive and memory-provoking as popcorn. For some, the scent brings to mind trips to the movie theater, carnival or baseball park; for others, it conjures up recollections of popcorn balls in autumn or holiday popcorn strings.

Do you like to eat popcorn? Do you buy popcorn already made or do you make it at home? Who do you think invented popcorn? (Native Americans)

Using a map of the United States, ask students to locate Utah, where a 1,000-year-old piece of popcorn was found in a dry cave once inhabited by Native American tribes. Then, ask students to locate Nebraska, where more than one fourth of the nation's popcorn is produced. Indiana produces slightly less, followed by Illinois, Ohio and Missouri. Why might these states grow more popcorn than other states? (Plenty of flat farming land, suitable weather conditions, history of popcorn farming in area.) Download and print outline maps from Xpeditions of these states and ask students use the Internet or library resources to mark the locations of state capitals, areas of farmland, bodies of water, etc. Serve unbuttered popcorn as a nutritious treat!

Learn more about popcorn and other fragrant foods in:

"Hey Pop!" (3-5) from EconEdLink, National Council on Economic Education

"Spices of the World" (K-2) from Xpeditions, National Geographic Society

3. For hundreds of years, scientific theories explained how humans were able to hear and understand musical notes. It wasn't until after 1650 that music made the leap from the field of science to one of entertainment.

What parts of your body do you use when you hear sounds? (Ears and brain) What kinds of sounds do we usually hear in songs? (Human voice, various musical instruments) What makes music sound different than other noises we hear?

Have students close their eyes. Make a variety of random sounds – shake some coins in your palm, clap your hands or the chalkboard erasers, tap a pencil or pen on a desk, crumple up paper, stamp your feet. Ask students to identify each sound and specify whether it is music or "just noise." Then, repeat the same sounds, but in a more "musical" fashion (with some sort of beat or rhythm). Can students detect the difference? Then, ask students to make some sound either by clapping their hands or using small musical instruments. Point out that if everyone played their own tunes at once, it would be considered "noise," but if they worked together and played a beat, it would sound more like music.

Continue exploring the fascinating concept of sound in:

"Acoustical Science" (K-4) from ARTSEDGE, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

"Can You Hear a Whale?" (6-8) from Xpeditions, National Geographic Society

4. In many ways, poetry is one of the most individually expressive forms of writing. Poets use words to relate sensations of sight, sound, smell, taste and touch. This makes poetry an ideal format to use when introducing young children to creative writing.

Present the class with an everyday object such as a pencil, leaf or penny, and pose the following questions: What shape is it? What color is it? What sound does it make if you drop it? What does it smell like? What does it feel like? What words would you use to describe what it tastes like?

Ask each student to write a poem about any one item found in the classroom. When writing their poems, students should use all five senses to describe their items. Encourage students to be as imaginative as they desire. Remind them that poems do not have to rhyme!

Nurture your students' creative writing skills with:

"All Together Now: Collaborations in Poetry Writing" (K-2) from EDSITEment, National Endowment for the Humanities

"Color Poems – Using the Five Senses to Guide Prewriting" (3-5) from ReadWriteThink, International Reading Association and the National Council of Teachers of English

"Writing Reports in Kindergarten? Yes!" (K-2) from ReadWriteThink, International Reading Association and the National Council of Teachers of English