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Science lesson plan · 4th grade (Year 5 in England) · 30 minutes

Animal senses: echolocation, heat-sensing and more

Animals and habitats

CCSS NGSS.4-LS1-2England: KS2 Y6 Evolution and inheritance

Objective and success criteria

Students will: Animal senses: echolocation, heat-sensing and more.

  • I can answer questions on today's skill on my own, without help.
  • I can explain each step and say why it works.
  • I can check my answer and spot a mistake.

Before and after

Needs first: Senses send information to the brain, which decides what to do

Leads to: the next skill in this area.

Materials: Animal picture cards, Habitat maps, Mini whiteboards, A diagram or short video clip of the idea, Printed student sheet (below).

Warm-up · 4 min

  • Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Senses send information to the brain, which decides what to do). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
  • Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.
  1. What does this sense organ detect: ears? (light / sound / smells (chemicals in the air) / touch, pressure, heat and cold) → soundPrompt: Each sense organ detects one kind of information.
  2. The brain stores information from your senses. How does this help you? (It makes you see in the dark. / It makes your senses unnecessary. / You can remember dangers and recognise people and places. / It stops you feeling pain.) → You can remember dangers and recognise people and places.Prompt: How do you know a stove might be hot even before touching it?
  3. What does this sense organ detect: eyes? (smells (chemicals in the air) / sound / touch, pressure, heat and cold / light) → lightPrompt: Each sense organ detects one kind of information.

Hook · 3 min

  • Show a picture of an unusual animal and ask where it might live and how it survives there.
  • Share the objective: Animal senses: echolocation, heat-sensing and more. Read the success criteria together.

I do: model it · 7 min

  • Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
  • Example: Which special sense does this animal use: rattlesnake (pit viper)?
  • Step 1: It can strike warm mice in the dark.
  • Step 2: So the answer is: heat-sensing pits that "see" warm prey
  • Answer: heat-sensing pits that "see" warm prey
  • Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

We do: guided practice · 6 min

  • Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
  • Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.
  1. Which special sense does this animal use: butterfly? (senses tiny electric signals from muscles of hidden fish / feels its way with 22 fleshy tentacles on its nose / echolocation: hears echoes of its own squeaks / tastes with its feet) → tastes with its feetPrompt: Think about where it lives and how it finds food.
  2. Many deep-sea fish live in total darkness. Which sense would be least useful there? (sight in normal daylight colours / touch / sensing movement in the water / smell) → sight in normal daylight coloursPrompt: What is missing in the deep sea?

You do: independent practice · 7 min

  • Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
  • Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.

The 6 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

Exit ticket · 3 min

  • Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.
  1. True or false? Bats can find food by listening to echoes. (True / False) → TruePrompt: Match the sense to how the animal lives.
  2. Dogs are used to find people trapped after earthquakes. Why? (Their sense of smell is far stronger than ours. / They can hear radio waves. / They can see through rubble. / They taste the air.) → Their sense of smell is far stronger than ours.Prompt: How do dogs follow a trail?

Watch out for

  • Everyday meanings of words getting in the way of the science meaning: define key words explicitly.
  • Remembering facts without the reason: ask "why?" and "what is the evidence?"

Support and stretch

Support

  • Review first: Senses send information to the brain, which decides what to do.
  • Use concrete materials: animal picture cards.
  • Give the first step of each question, or a partly worked example to finish.
  • Pair with a confident partner for the guided practice.

Stretch

  • Explain a common mistake in writing and how to fix it.
  • Write a word problem that uses today's skill, then solve a partner's.

Homework and more practice

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/science/grade-4.

Free lesson plan from eurekami.com/lesson-plan-builder

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Animal senses: echolocation, heat-sensing and more

Name

Date

Score/ 6

  1. Question 1

    Engineers copied bat echolocation to build which technology?

    • A. microwave ovens
    • B. solar panels
    • C. light bulbs
    • D. sonar on ships and parking sensors on cars

  2. Question 2

    Which special sense does this animal use: star-nosed mole?

    • A. senses tiny electric signals from muscles of hidden fish
    • B. sees ultraviolet patterns on flowers
    • C. feels its way with 22 fleshy tentacles on its nose
    • D. tastes with its feet

  3. Question 3

    True or false? An animal's senses suit the way it lives and finds food.

    • A. True
    • B. False

  4. Question 4

    Owls hunt mice at night in the dark. Which sense helps them most?

    • A. taste
    • B. a sense of electricity
    • C. excellent hearing that pinpoints rustling sounds
    • D. seeing ultraviolet

  5. Question 5

    Which special sense does this animal use: shark?

    • A. heat-sensing pits that "see" warm prey
    • B. echolocation: hears echoes of its own squeaks
    • C. tastes with its feet
    • D. senses tiny electric signals from muscles of hidden fish

  6. Question 6

    Which special sense does this animal use: honeybee?

    • A. tastes with its feet
    • B. heat-sensing pits that "see" warm prey
    • C. sees ultraviolet patterns on flowers
    • D. echolocation: hears echoes of its own squeaks

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Answer key: Animal senses: echolocation, heat-sensing and more

  1. 1. D. sonar on ships and parking sensors on cars

  2. 2. C. feels its way with 22 fleshy tentacles on its nose

  3. 3. A. True

  4. 4. C. excellent hearing that pinpoints rustling sounds

  5. 5. D. senses tiny electric signals from muscles of hidden fish

  6. 6. C. sees ultraviolet patterns on flowers