Emma Smith and Maddy Cole

5/7/2015

Do Worms Have Senses?

4-LS12.

Use a model to describe that animals receive different types of

information through their senses, process the information in their brain,
and respond to the information in different ways.

Grade Level: Around First or Second Grade

Big Ideas:
Students will learn that invertebrates have senses.
Students will know and be able to identify the 5 senses.
Students will learn that anything that is living responds to the environment.

Key Vocabulary:
Observation-the action or process of examining something or someone carefully or
in order to gain information
Invertebrate-an animal lacking a backbone
Environment- the surroundings or conditions in which a person, animal, or plant
lives or operates

Materials: shoebox, cooked spaghetti, earth worms, gloves, small lamp, Q-tips,
vinegar, vanilla, mini speaker, iPod or iPhone, paper, sand paper, data collection
sheet, paper plates, napkins, markers or crayons

ENGAGE:
1. Take a shoebox full of cooked spaghetti.
2. Say to the class, We are going to walk around and have you put your hands
in this box. When you feel inside this box, describe out loud what you feel.
3. Once all of the students have described what they have felt, ask the students
What sense did you just use?
4. The students will respond touch.
5. Explain to the students that we can use our sense of touch to make
observations and describe characteristics of things. We, as humans, use our
senses to respond to our environment.
6. Ask the class, Do you think worms have senses, since they are
invertebrates?
7. Then ask, Does anyone know what an invertebrate is?
8. Explain what an invertebrate is if no one in the class knows.

EXPLORE:
1. Set up 4 stations in the back of the classroom. One station will be the touch
station with sand paper and computer paper. The next station will be the
sight station with a small lamp. The third station is the sound station with a
speaker and iPod. The last station is the smell station with Q-tips, vinegar,
and vanilla.
2. Separate the class into groups (around 3- 4 groups).
3. Pass out plates to each group.
4. Give each group a worm to put on the plate. Explain that this is their groups
worm.
5. Pass out gloves for students who do not want to touch the worm.
6. Have the groups choose a station to start out at.
7. Explain to students that they will write down their observations and decide if
the worm has that particular sense for each station.
At the sight station:
Groups will test the worm to see if it has the sense of sight. Groups will flash a light
bulb at the worm on the plate to see if it responds to light.
At the touch station:
Groups will put the worm on something smooth, such as paper and see how it
responds and moves. Students will then put the worm on something rough, such as
sand paper to see how it responds.
At the hearing station:
Groups will turn an iPod speaker on and see if the worm moves towards the light or
away from it.
At the smell station:
Groups will dip a Q-tip in vinegar and put it by the worm to see how it responds.
Groups will then dip a Q-tip in vanilla and put it by the worm to see how it responds.
8. Once groups are finished with each station, have them rotate until they have
been through each station.

EXPLAIN:
1. Students will return to the large group setting and share their findings with
others in the class. They will compare their observations.
2. In the class discussion that follows, the teacher will introduce the concept
that anything that is living responds to the environment.
3. Ask the class: Why did we not test taste?
4. Once students share their ideas, explain that taste is difficult to observe
because we cannot experience the worms tastes with our senses. As

scientists, it is important to test things we can observe and experience for

ourselves.

EXTEND:
1. In their station groups, have the students consider their observations and
come up with the most ideal environment for a worm to be in.
2. Have the groups write down characteristics of the environment.
3. Have each group draw a picture of it.

EVALUATE:
1. Have each group share their ideal environment with the class. Have them
explain why they chose each characteristic to be in that environment.
2. Have the class vote on the best environment.
3. As an entire class, come up with at least 5 characteristics of an appropriate
environment for a worm.
4. Write this list on the white board.
5. Conclude the lesson by saying, Today we observed worms to find out that
they have senses. We saw the different characteristics of the environment
that worms prefer, such as dark spaces. Just like invertebrates, humans use
their senses every day to respond to the environment.