Kindergarden - The Five Senses

The Five Senses: Supplemental Guide 3C | I Use My Nose to Smell 85

come into your nostrils, they travel high up inside your nose until they

reach smell receptors. The smell receptors tell your brain what kind

of scent the odor molecules have, such as the scent of a sweet-

smelling flower. Human beings can identify thousands of different

kinds of scents. One thousand is a big number!

[Write 1,000 on the board.]

With your partner, think of ten different kinds of scents.

[Write 10 on the board. Allow students to talk for thirty seconds. Call on a few

students to share the different kinds of scents they came up with.]

 Show image 4A-4: Rescue dog

Dogs have an even better sense of smell than humans. Dogs have to

sniff really hard to get the odor molecules all the way up their nose to

their smell receptors. If you’ve ever seen a dog walking with its nose

to the ground, you may even be able to hear it sniff.

People sniff, too, especially when they want to figure out where a

smell is coming from or to identify—or figure out—what kind of scent

it is.

 Show image 4A-5: Sneezing

If you have trouble inhaling or breathing through your nose, maybe it

is because you have a stuffy nose. What does it mean to have a stuffy

nose? Be sure to use the word mucus in your explanation.

[Call on a volunteer to answer.]

A stuffy nose means that your nostrils are full of mucus.

Mucus is the slimy liquid inside your nose and sometimes it comes

out from your nose when you have a cold or allergies. Mucus is very

important because it traps dirt from the air you breathe and keeps it

from going further into your body.

 Show image 4A-3: Nose diagram

Ask your partner, “How come I cannot smell as well when I have a

stuffy nose?” I will call on some of you to share your answers.

[Allow thirty seconds for students to talk. Call on two students to share their

answers.]