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6th grade · Science · Unit 2 of 6

Our Senses

Eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin.

What your child practices

Practices natural sensory systems: sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. It follows the Grade 6 science skill descriptors on natural and technical sensory systems in the New Brunswick curriculum.

Maine Learning Results learning standard: MS-LS1-8 · sensory receptors that send messages to the brain

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Five senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch.
  2. In the eye, the retina has cells that detect light. The optic nerve carries messages to the brain.
  3. Basic tastes include sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami.
  4. Pain is helpful: it warns you about danger.

Example: Which part of the eye has the cells that detect light? Light passes through the front of the eye to the back. The back lining with light-sensing cells is the retina. Answer: the retina

Our Senses in Maine

In the Maine Learning Results, this is unit 2 of 6 in 6th grade Science, after Body Systems and before Cells: Life's Building Blocks.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Maine Department of Education

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Which two senses work together when you catch a ball?

    • hearing and taste
    • smell and hearing
    • taste and smell
    • sight and touch

  2. Question 2

    Which part of the inner ear changes vibrations into nerve signals?

    • the eardrum
    • the cornea
    • the cochlea
    • the lens

  3. Question 3

    What are taste buds?

    • sensors on the tongue that detect tastes
    • parts of the ear
    • tiny seeds
    • cells in the eye

  4. Question 4

    Which part of the eye has cells that detect light?

    • the pupil
    • the lens
    • the iris
    • the retina

  5. Question 5

    Which part of the ear collects sound?

    • the cochlea
    • the eardrum
    • the auditory nerve
    • the outer ear

  6. Question 6

    Where are the messages from the senses made sense of?

    • the tongue
    • the lens
    • the skin
    • in the brain

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