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Science lesson plan · 4th grade (Year 5 in England) · 45 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 · 5 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: eyes? (tastes (chemicals in food) / sound / light / touch, pressure, heat and cold) → lightPrompt: Each sense organ detects one kind of information.
  2. You touch a hot pan and pull your hand away before you even think. What is this called? (a memory / digestion / a dream / a reflex) → a reflexPrompt: It happens automatically to protect you.
  3. What does this sense organ detect: nose? (tastes (chemicals in food) / smells (chemicals in the air) / light / sound) → smells (chemicals in the air)Prompt: Each sense organ detects one kind of information.

Hook · 5 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 · 10 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 · 10 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: bat? (echolocation: hears echoes of its own squeaks / heat-sensing pits that "see" warm prey / 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 squeaksPrompt: 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? (sensing movement in the water / sight in normal daylight colours / smell / touch) → sight in normal daylight coloursPrompt: What is missing in the deep sea?

You do: independent practice · 10 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 8 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

Exit ticket · 5 min

  • Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.
  1. True or false? Some animals sense things that humans cannot, such as ultraviolet light. (True / False) → TruePrompt: Match the sense to how the animal lives.
  2. Which special sense does this animal use: rattlesnake (pit viper)? (tastes with its feet / heat-sensing pits that "see" warm prey / senses tiny electric signals from muscles of hidden fish / sees ultraviolet patterns on flowers) → heat-sensing pits that "see" warm preyPrompt: Think about where it lives and how it finds food.

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

eurekami

Animal senses: echolocation, heat-sensing and more

Name

Date

Score/ 8

  1. Question 1

    Dogs are used to find people trapped after earthquakes. Why?

    • A. They can hear radio waves.
    • B. Their sense of smell is far stronger than ours.
    • C. They taste the air.
    • D. They can see through rubble.

  2. Question 2

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

    • A. sees ultraviolet patterns on flowers
    • B. heat-sensing pits that "see" warm prey
    • C. feels its way with 22 fleshy tentacles on its nose
    • D. echolocation: hears echoes of its own squeaks

  3. Question 3

    True or false? Some animals sense things that humans cannot, such as ultraviolet light.

    • A. True
    • B. False

  4. Question 4

    Engineers copied bat echolocation to build which technology?

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

  5. Question 5

    Which special sense does this animal use: butterfly?

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

  6. Question 6

    True or false? Snakes find warm prey using their eyelashes.

    • A. True
    • B. False

  7. Question 7

    Many deep-sea fish live in total darkness. Which sense would be least useful there?

    • A. touch
    • B. smell
    • C. sight in normal daylight colours
    • D. sensing movement in the water

  8. Question 8

    True or false? Bats can find food by listening to echoes.

    • A. True
    • B. False

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

  1. 1. B. Their sense of smell is far stronger than ours.

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

  3. 3. A. True

  4. 4. B. sonar on ships and parking sensors on cars

  5. 5. B. tastes with its feet

  6. 6. B. False

  7. 7. C. sight in normal daylight colours

  8. 8. A. True