Special Feature Lesson:

 Sense-ational Mystery Bags!

Overview:
Students write sense-related clues to help others identify a secret object placed inside a bag.

Curriculum Focus:
• science
• language arts

Materials:
• What Is It? sheet
• brown paper lunch bags
• object each student brings from home

Activity::

Make enough photocopies of the What Is It? sheet for each student. Review the information in Special Feature and More About regarding how animals use their senses. Ask students to share examples of when they might rely on one sense more than the others.

Hand out a lunch bag to each student, along with a copy of the What Is It? sheet. Explain that each student should bring these materials home. Students must choose a “mystery” object to hide inside the bag. They must then fill out the sheet to provide clues, so that classmates can guess what the object is. Encourage students to choose an object that lends itself to clues in every category. In the event an object is not edible, students can leave the “tastes like” clue blank.

Allow time for students to create a display with their bags and clue sheets. Students can walk through the display and record their guesses for each object. Compare students' answers as a class.

Extension idea:
Challenge students to describe a common household object to a space alien who has never seen this object. Students should refer to all senses as they describe the object.