Sensitivity

Sensitivity

Senses are very important.

Your senses let you know what is going on in the world around you.

Humans have five senses: hearing, sight, smell, touch and taste. They are controlled by five sense organs: the ears, eyes, nose, skin and tongue.

 

Little girl smelling rose
 

 

 

About this resource
 

Science topic: Animals, including humans

Key Stage: KS1, KS2

Type: Information, Activity

Keywords: sensory organs, five senses, smell, touch, sight, taste, sound 

 

The ears, eyes, nose, tongue and skin are the five sense organs.

Click on the pictures to find out more about each human sense.
 

https://view.genial.ly/608c029e350f0b0d0a8ee48d

 

 

Some animals rely on some senses more than others.

Hunting animals, like the cheetah, need very good eyesight to find their prey.

Nocturnal animals often have very large eyes to maximise the amount they see at night, but also rely heavily on their sense of hearing.

 

Two cheetah lying on grass

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The platypus has very poor eyesight.

To find food, it uses its bill to grub around in mud to find shrimp and shell fish.

The platypus' bill is filled with sensitive electro-receptors that pick up electrical impulses given off by the movement of its prey.

 

illustration platypus

Snakes have amazing senses.

They actually smell with their tongues – they flick their tongues in and out to taste and smell the air around them. Some snakes can detect the heat of other animals around them. Snakes also hear by sensing vibrations on the ground with their lower jaws. Pythons are heat-seekers that can feel slight changes in the temperature around them - allowing them to find their prey in the dark!

illustration snake

 

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