TEACH PRESCHOOL SCIENCE
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      • Follow That Scent
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      • Blowing Bubbles
      • Magnify!
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      • Ramps in Motion
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      • Sink or Float a Boat
      • Sponges and water
      • Dropping Things Through the Air
      • Static Electricity
      • Battery Electricity
      • Properties of Soap and Water
      • Weights and Balances
      • How Can Heat Change Things?
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      • Lifting with Levers
      • Earth and Sky Science Index >
        • Shadow Chasing
        • Sun Effects
        • The Night Sky
        • Kinds of Clouds
        • Dressing for the Season
        • Classifying Rocks
        • Colors of the Rainbow
        • Who Has Seen the Wind?
        • Rain
        • Snow
        • Litter Hunt
        • We Can Take Care of the Earth
      • Wheels
      • Predicting How Simple Machines Will Work
      • Computers and Other Devices
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Follow That Scent


Core Learning Experience + Supplies and Equipment

  • ​Make a set of smelly containers with cotton balls and paper cups. Saturate a cotton ball with lemon juice or essence, perfume, vinegar, vanilla, coffee, etc. Also piece of onion, orange, soap, garlic, be creative. Have the children take turns, smell the contents, and either name it or describe the smell. Encourage new vocabulary, such as aromatic, odor, fresh, putrid, minty, acrid.
  • What part of your body are you using to smell with? We all have noses, and animals have noses too. Show photos of lots of people noses, different shapes and sizes, and all used to smell. Show animal noses, such as dog, cat, elephant, pig, bird (nostrils), horse etc.

Possible/Expected Discoveries

  • ​Our sense of smell is in our nose – way up inside the nostrils is a special area that can “catch” a smell floating though the air, and sends a message to our brain, and our brain figures out what the smell is. Sometimes we also use our sense of taste to help us decide what the smell is. Those 2 senses quite often work together.
  • Smells not only make our lives more enjoyable, when we smell food and flowers, there are also some smells that we might not like as much. Can you think of some examples? (Trash, toilets, dirty socks, bad food, heavy smoke). Sometimes a strong smell might warn us of a danger of some kind, for example, food burning on the stove.
  • Sometimes, if you have a stuffy nose or a cold, you can’t smell (or taste) anything very well. Why do you think that happens?
  • Humans don’t really have a strong sense of smell, compared with some animals. Can you think about why that is? Animals, especially in the wild, can smell an enemy coming from a great distance, and so they are able to run away. They also need to be able to smell food and water, so they can continue to live.

Extended Learning and Other Curriculum Areas

  • ​​Rub a cinnamon stick on a circle or square of sandpaper. Punch a hole in it and wear it as a necklace.
  • Make a flower from colorful tissue and a green pipe cleaner. Spray some perfume on it. Draw and cut out a bee to sit on the flower. Make a bouquet of flowers.
  • Write and read a predictable chart. “My favorite smell is…” “The smell is dislike most is…”
  • Make a clipart card activity – animals that have a strong sense of smell. Child picks up a card, and describes what the animal might like to smell. For example, a dog might like to smell: dog food, water, bone, meat, cat, etc.
Preschool science activities - sense of smell
Picture

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​The Story of Ferdinand  by M. Leaf

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This site is sponsored and supported by the preschool themes site www.KidSparkz.com
Activities written by (c) Susan Portman
Pre-K, Kindergarten, First, Second, Third, Homeschooler - TeachersPayTeachers.com
Copyright © 2005-2023 Teach Preschool Science - Permission granted to reproduce for personal educational use only. Commercial copying or selling is prohibited. No part of this resource may be uploaded to, or published on, any other site for any reason.
  • Home
  • Lesson Plans Index
    • Life Science Plants and Animals >
      • Comparing Leaves
      • Exploring Pumpkins
      • Shucking Corn
      • Earthworm Observation
      • Parent and Baby Animals
      • Collecting Ants
      • Spider Season
      • Visit to a Pet Store
      • Living and Non Living Things
      • Animals Come in Many Shapes, Sizes and Colors
      • Ways Animals Move
      • Animals Need to Eat
      • Difference Between Wild and Tame Animals
      • People Can Use Products Provided by Animals and Plants
      • Animal Coverings - Hair, Fur, Feathers, Scales and Skin
      • Animals Live in Different Places
      • Metamorphosis and Change in Biology
      • Nocturnal Animals
      • Egg Science
      • Exploring Fish
      • Tree Skin Bark
      • Roots Growing Potatoes in Water
      • Stems - Making Daisy and Clover Chains
      • Flowers
      • Digging in the Dirt
    • Life Science People Index >
      • Parts of Our Body and How We Use Them
      • Our Heart
      • Our Hands
      • Our Feet
      • Fun With Balance
      • Sound Search
      • Sense of Touch
      • Exploring the Sense of Sight
      • Follow That Scent
      • Stop That Germ!
      • Interesting Tools That Doctors Use
      • We Need Healthy Teeth
      • Keep Those Muscles Moving!
    • Physical Science Index >
      • Blowing Bubbles
      • Magnify!
      • Ways to Measure Time
      • Magnetic Attraction
      • Ramps in Motion
      • Ice Melting
      • Sink or Float a Boat
      • Sponges and water
      • Dropping Things Through the Air
      • Static Electricity
      • Battery Electricity
      • Properties of Soap and Water
      • Weights and Balances
      • How Can Heat Change Things?
      • Tools Can Help Us Do Things
      • Lifting with Levers
      • Earth and Sky Science Index >
        • Shadow Chasing
        • Sun Effects
        • The Night Sky
        • Kinds of Clouds
        • Dressing for the Season
        • Classifying Rocks
        • Colors of the Rainbow
        • Who Has Seen the Wind?
        • Rain
        • Snow
        • Litter Hunt
        • We Can Take Care of the Earth
      • Wheels
      • Predicting How Simple Machines Will Work
      • Computers and Other Devices
      • Discoveries With Straws
      • Different Ways of Making Light
  • Teaching Notes
  • Links
  • Contact