Summer SAVY, Session 4 Day 4, “The Science of Senses” (3rd-4th)
Hello again, families! We had another great day exploring The Science of Senses! Our day began with a quick review of yesterday’s content. Students were excited to revisit our discussions about optical illusions. I was impressed that they recalled the 3 types of illusions – cognitive, physiological, and literal.
Today, much of our focus was on our sense of touch. Our intro to touch involved the kids placing themselves on the “Tickle Spectrum,” which was an (x,y) coordinate graph with x being “not ticklish/very ticklish” and y being “like being tickled, hate being tickled”. The kids put their initials where they landed on the graph. Most ended up in the “very ticklish/like being tickled” quadrant!
From here, we expanded on the learning that was initiated yesterday when we learned about animal sight. We watched a PBS video on “weird” senses and used this as a springboard for an engaging activity investigating senses. For this activity, we used photo cards of animals and various settings from a game called Ouisi (https://shop.ouisi.co). Each student was given 3 cards (2 animals and a habitat) and had to generate a work of fantasy where the animals go on a quest and have to employ all senses in their adventure. Each student had different animals and settings. They were challenged to turn the animals into fantasy creatures with strange or exaggerated senses that would help them on their quest. I got many funny, original, entertaining tales, and I am so impressed with how much they wanted to write and complete their projects on a high level. Their dedication to their work made my day! Following is a link to the PBS videos students can visit to extend their learning: https://www.pbs.org/video/ancestral-weird-senses-4vogyf/
After lunch, we focused on the science of touch. We looked at the layers of the skin, the neurobiology of touch, along with the human nervous system, and diagrams of neurons. We reflected on the question of “What if we couldn’t feel pain?” Students conducted 2 experiments on touch. They used feathers to see if they could tickle themselves, and tried to identify objects in “Mystery Bags” with and without gloves.
To end the day, students created “neuron art”. They also worked on finalizing stories by adding details or creating illustrations. I can’t believe tomorrow is our final day! We will have a surprise walking field trip to Vanderbilt Medical Center tomorrow, where students will further investigate the sense of sound by learning about the structures of the ear.