Observing with Our Senses: a skill companion

A small set of reusable sheets that grow one inquiry skill: observing carefully and safely with our senses. We look, we listen, we smell and we touch gently, and we never taste things in class. Print the scaffolds once and slot them into the science lessons you are already teaching.

What a skill companion is

Inquiry skills are not a topic of their own. They grow inside the science units a class teaches all year, such as Looking at Living Things, What Things Are Made Of and How Things Move. So this pack is not a full term of lessons. It is three reusable scaffolds, a map of where they fit, and a short stand-alone lesson for teaching the skill on its own first.

Start here: five minutes

1. Read the pairing map on the next page: it shows which scaffold fits which science lesson.
2. Print the senses recorder and the safe-observation checklist, one each per child, whenever a lesson asks children to observe something.
3. Cut out the sense cards once. They are reused all year, in any topic.
4. Open the free interactive unit on your board when you want a worked example of the skill.
5. Run the one-page mini-lesson first if you want to teach the skill before folding it into a topic.

No science background needed

This pack is written for the busy generalist teacher. Each scaffold explains itself in plain words, and the answer sheet gives model observations and look-fors for every Foundation topic, so you can walk in and use it. The one safe rule is easy to remember: we look, listen, smell and touch gently, but we never taste.

Slot the skill into your science lessons

The same skill of observing with your senses fits into every science unit. This map shows what children can observe in each Foundation topic, the senses that help most, and which scaffold to reach for. You do not run these as extra lessons; you fold them into the science you teach.

The senses at work, and the picture that backs each one

When you want a worked example on the board, open the interactive unit and use the picture that matches the move children are working on.

• Notice with a sense and count what you found: “Count what your hands felt”.
• Spot the reading that breaks a pattern: “Find the one that does not fit”.
• Agree how to observe safely and carefully: “Plan a safe, careful observation”.

How the scaffolds build the skill

The senses recorder gets children to observe one thing with each sense and say what it noticed. The safe-observation checklist keeps that observing safe, with the one rule that we never taste. The sense cards sharpen the idea that a different sense suits a different thing. Used together across the year, they make observing safely with your senses a habit.

What my senses noticed

Pick one thing to observe. Use each sense in turn and draw or write what it noticed. Look, listen, smell and touch gently.

The one thing I am observing

We do not taste things in science class.

I observed safely

A good scientist stays safe while they observe. Tick each box as you do it. The most important rule is the one about tasting.

My safe-observation checklist

Teacher note: if a child is unsure whether something is safe to touch, they tick “Ask first” and check with you. We never taste anything in science class.

Which sense would you use?

Cut out the cards. Sort each one under the sense you would use to observe it: See, Hear, Smell or Touch. There is no taste pile, because we never taste things in science class.

Teacher note: the four piles are See, Hear, Smell and Touch. The answer sheet lists the best sense for each card, and why. Blank cards let children add their own.

Careful observers

Use this stand-alone lesson to teach the skill on its own, before you fold it into a science topic. It runs the three scaffolds in this pack in one short block, so children meet the whole skill in one go and then reuse the sheets all year.

We are learning to

• observe one thing with more than one sense,
• observe safely, and never taste anything,
• say what each sense noticed.

Success criteria

• I can use more than one sense to observe a thing.
• I can say what a sense noticed, and I keep myself safe.

You need

• the sense cards (scaffold 3), one set per table, cut out ahead or by fast finishers,
• the senses recorder and the safe-observation checklist (scaffolds 1 and 2), one each per child,
• a few safe things to observe: a leaf, a smooth stone, a small bell or shaker,
• the free interactive unit on your board, if you have one (optional).

Lesson flow (about 30 minutes)

Running it shorter? Stop after Sort the sense cards, and pick up Observe one thing safely inside your next science lesson, where children observe something real.

Watch for these ideas

• Wanting to taste things. We never taste in science class, because some things can make us sick.
• Using only your eyes. Many senses tell us more than one sense on its own.
• Touching things that may not be safe. Ask first; some things are hot, sharp or not clean.

Make it easier, make it bigger

• Easier: observe one thing with just two senses, see and touch.
• Bigger: observe two things and say how they are different for each sense.

Answers and look-fors

The next sheet has the sense-card answers, model observations for the Foundation topics, and a quick three-level guide.

Answers and look-fors

Sense cards: which sense would you use?

Some things could use more than one sense, and that is fine. The point is that children pick a sense that suits the thing and can say why. There is no taste pile.

The senses recorder: what a good observation sounds like

Observations will vary, and that is fine. The point is careful, safe observing with more than one sense. Here is what an at-standard observation sounds like in each Foundation topic.

A quick three-level guide

A child at standard observes one thing with more than one sense, stays safe and never tastes, and says what a sense noticed. The skill grows all year, so keep the scaffolds coming back in every science topic.