Kindergarden - The Five Senses

The Five Senses: Supplemental Guide 3A | I Use My Nose to Smell 75

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 what kind of scent it is.

Show me again how you inhale. Did you smell any odor molecules?

Did you see any odor molecules?

[Call on two students to answer.]

 Show image 4A-5: Sneezing

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

is because you have a stuffy nose.

[Sniff like you have a stuffy nose.]

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.

Does anyone have a stuffy nose right now?

[Have the student show the class how hard it is to breath through the nose.]

 Show image 4A-3: Nose diagram

Mucus is very important because it traps dirt from the air you breathe

and keeps it from going further into your body. But if you are sick, the

extra mucus can stuff up your nose or the mucus may drip out of

your nose. When there is extra mucus in your nose, it is hard for odor

molecules to travel high enough into your nose to reach the smell

receptors. The odor molecules are blocked—or stopped—by the

mucus.

[Use your hands to block the odor molecules from reaching the smell

receptors.]

When you have a stuffy nose, you can’t smell as well as when you’re

healthy.