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Science lesson plan · 4th grade (Year 5 in England) · 60 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 · 6 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? (smells (chemicals in the air) / tastes (chemicals in food) / touch, pressure, heat and cold / sound) → soundPrompt: 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 reflex / digestion / a dream / a memory) → a reflexPrompt: It happens automatically to protect you.
  3. What does this sense organ detect: tongue? (smells (chemicals in the air) / light / sound / tastes (chemicals in food)) → tastes (chemicals in food)Prompt: Each sense organ detects one kind of information.

Hook · 6 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 · 12 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 · 12 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 / tastes with its feet / feels its way with 22 fleshy tentacles on its nose / heat-sensing pits that "see" warm prey) → 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 / sensing movement in the water / smell / touch) → sight in normal daylight coloursPrompt: What is missing in the deep sea?

You do: independent practice · 17 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 · 7 min

  • Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.
  1. Engineers copied bat echolocation to build which technology? (microwave ovens / sonar on ships and parking sensors on cars / solar panels / light bulbs) → sonar on ships and parking sensors on carsPrompt: Which devices send out a sound and listen for the echo?
  2. True or false? Bats can find food by listening to echoes. (True / False) → TruePrompt: Match the sense to how the animal lives.

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/ 8

  1. Question 1

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

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

  2. Question 2

    Which special sense does this animal use: rattlesnake (pit viper)?

    • A. feels its way with 22 fleshy tentacles on its nose
    • B. echolocation: hears echoes of its own squeaks
    • C. senses tiny electric signals from muscles of hidden fish
    • D. heat-sensing pits that "see" warm prey

  3. Question 3

    True or false? Bats are blind and use only smell.

    • A. True
    • B. False

  4. Question 4

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

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

  5. Question 5

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

    • A. True
    • B. False

  6. Question 6

    Which special sense does this animal use: bat?

    • A. tastes with its feet
    • B. sees ultraviolet patterns on flowers
    • C. echolocation: hears echoes of its own squeaks
    • D. feels its way with 22 fleshy tentacles on its nose

  7. Question 7

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

    • A. True
    • B. False

  8. Question 8

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

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

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

  1. 1. D. sight in normal daylight colours

  2. 2. D. heat-sensing pits that "see" warm prey

  3. 3. B. False

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

  5. 5. B. False

  6. 6. C. echolocation: hears echoes of its own squeaks

  7. 7. A. True

  8. 8. A. Their sense of smell is far stronger than ours.