Lesson Notes By Weeks and Term v3 - Primary 2
The senses
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The senses
Download the Lessonotes Mobile Nigeria 2025 app for faster lesson access on Android and iPhone.
Subject: Basic Science
Class: Primary 2
Term: 1st Term
Week: 4
Theme: Learning About Our Environment
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Watch on YouTubeObserve and name colours, shapes and sizes of common objects Identify various sounds made by objects, animals and persons Detect various odours of fruits, food, shoes, dirty socks; etc Detect taste of sweet, sour, salty and bitter food items Identify objects by to uching and feeling Describe how correct ways of using the road by each of the users
The human body possesses specialized organs that enable it to detect changes and gather information from its surroundings. These abilities are called senses.
There are five main senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch.
A. Sense of Sight (Vision)
Organ: The eyes are the organs for sight.
Function: The eyes allow us to see light, colours, shapes, sizes, and distances of objects. They help us to observe our environment.
How it works: Light from objects enters the eyes, which then send signals to the brain. The brain interprets these signals as images.
Examples in Nigerian Context: Colours: Identifying the vibrant colours of adire fabric, traffic lights (red, yellow, green), ripe fruits like mango (yellow/green), or the colours of the Nigerian flag.
Shapes: Recognizing the rectangular shape of a building, the circular shape of a garri bowl, the triangular shape of a samosa, or the oval shape of an egg.
Sizes: Distinguishing between a large yam tuber and a small piece of ginger, a tall coconut tree and a short shrub, or a big gari sack and a small nylon bag.
B. Sense of Hearing (Audition)
Organ: The ears are the organs for hearing.
Function: The ears detect sound vibrations in the air, allowing us to hear and understand speech, music, and environmental noises.
How it works: Sound waves travel through the air into the ears, causing vibrations that are sent to the brain. The brain interprets these as different sounds.
Examples in Nigerian Context: Objects: Hearing the sound of a keke napep engine, a grinding machine at the market, a ringing phone, or the distinct clatter of a molue bus.
Animals: Identifying the crowing of a cockerel, the bleating of a goat, the barking of a dog, or the buzzing of a mosquito.
Persons: Recognizing a mother's voice, a child's laughter, a market hawker's call ("Buy your fresh tomatoes!"), or the sound of someone singing a traditional song.
C. Sense of Smell (Olfaction)
Organ: The nose is the organ for smell.
Function: The nose detects airborne chemical particles, allowing us to perceive different odours, distinguishing between pleasant and unpleasant smells. This sense is important for safety (detecting gas leaks, spoilt food) and pleasure (enjoying food aromas).
How it works: When airborne scent molecules enter the nose, they stimulate receptors that send signals to the brain, which then recognizes the smell.
Examples in Nigerian Context: Pleasant odours: The aroma of freshly cooked jollof rice, the sweet smell of ripe pineapple, the fragrance of local perfumes (Anointing oil), or the earthy scent of rain on dry soil.
Unpleasant odours: The smell of dirty socks, stale food, refuse dumps, or car exhaust fumes.
Specific foods: The distinctive smell of ogiri (fermented locust beans), palm oil, or roasted plantain (boli).
D. Sense of Taste (Gustation)
Organ: The tongue is the organ for taste, specifically the taste buds on its surface.
Function: The tongue detects chemical compounds in food and liquids, allowing us to identify different tastes: sweet, sour, salty, and bitter. This helps us enjoy food and avoid harmful substances.
How it works: Taste buds on the tongue send signals to the brain when they come into contact with dissolved food chemicals.
Examples in Nigerian Context: Sweet: The taste of sugar, ripe mango, honey, or a sweet biscuit.
Sour: The taste of lime, unripe star apple (agbalumo), or fermented ogi.
Salty: The taste of salt, fried yam chips (dundun), or dry fish.
Bitter: The taste of bitter leaf (ewedu), certain traditional herbs, or unripe cocoa beans.
E. Sense of Touch (Tactile Sensation)
Organ: The skin is the largest organ and is responsible for the sense of touch, found all over the body.
Function: The skin detects pressure, temperature (hot/cold), pain, and texture (smooth/rough). This sense helps us interact with objects and protect ourselves from harm.
How it works: Nerve endings in the skin send signals to the brain when they are stimulated by contact, temperature, or pressure.
Examples in Nigerian Context: Texture: of bitter leaf (ewedu), certain traditional herbs, or unripe cocoa beans.
E. Sense of Touch (Tactile Sensation)
Organ: The skin is the largest organ and is responsible for the sense of touch, found all over the body.
Function: The skin detects pressure, temperature (hot/cold), pain, and texture (smooth/rough). This sense helps us interact with objects and protect ourselves from harm.
How it works: Nerve endings in the skin send signals to the brain when they are stimulated by contact, temperature, or pressure.
Examples in Nigerian Context: Texture: Feeling the smooth surface of a calabash, the rough texture of a stone or sandpaper, the soft feel of cotton wool, or the bumpy surface of a pineapple skin.
Temperature: Feeling the warmth of freshly cooked fufu or eba, the coldness of ice cream, or the heat from a sunny afternoon.
Pressure/Pain: Feeling the pressure of a handshake, or the sting of a mosquito bite. F. Using Senses for Road Safety This section explicitly covers Objective 6 and is a critical integration of the senses into practical safety. All five senses play a role in road safety.
Road Users: Common road users include pedestrians (people walking), cyclists (people riding bicycles), drivers (people driving cars, buses, motorcycles), and passengers (people riding in vehicles).
Safe Practices and Sensory Roles:
1. Pedestrians: Sight: Look left, right, and left again before crossing the road. Observe traffic lights and zebra crossings. See approaching vehicles.
Hearing: Listen for vehicle horns, engines, and approaching traffic.
Touch (Awareness): Be aware of ground conditions, uneven surfaces.
2. Cyclists: Sight: Observe road signs, traffic, potholes, and other road users. Use rearview mirrors if available.
Hearing: Listen for approaching vehicles, especially from behind.
Touch (Control): Feel the bicycle's balance and grip on the road.
3. Drivers/Motorcyclists: Sight: Constantly scan the road ahead, behind, and to the sides. Use mirrors effectively. Observe road signs, markings, and other users.
Hearing: Listen for unusual vehicle sounds, horns, sirens of emergency vehicles.
Touch (Control): Feel the steering wheel, accelerator, and brakes for vehicle response.
4. Passengers: Sight: Observe the surroundings and report anything unusual to the driver if safe to do so. Do not distract the driver.
Hearing: Listen for instructions or warnings. * General Rules: Walk on the sidewalk, face traffic when walking on a road without a sidewalk, cross at designated points (zebra crossings, pedestrian bridges), obey traffic signals.
Materials: Variety of objects with different colours, shapes, and sizes (e.g., plastic bottles, fruits like oranges/mangoes, classroom books, chalk, erasers, local toys). Sound-making objects (e.g., small bell, whistle, drum, recorded animal/vehicle sounds). Items with distinct odours (e.g., cut onion, ripe fruit, perfume, a little dirty sock, local spice like garlic or ginger). Safe, edible food items for taste (e.g., sugar cubes, salt, slice of lime, a tiny piece of bitter leaf). Ensure no allergies among students. Objects with different textures/temperatures (e.g., sandpaper, cotton wool, stone, smooth plastic, warm water bottle, cold water bottle). Pictures or drawings depicting road scenes, traffic lights, zebra crossings, various road users. Blindfolds (optional, for touch/smell activities). Introduction (10 minutes)
1. Teacher Activity: The teacher displays a variety of common Nigerian objects (e.g., a gari bowl, a mango, a plastic bottle, a textbook).
2. Student Activity: Students observe the objects. The teacher then asks general questions like "What do you see?" "How do you know what it is?" This leads to the idea of using our eyes. The teacher introduces the concept of senses as special ways our body helps us understand the world.
Developmental Activities Activity 1: Sense of Sight (20 minutes)
1. Teacher Activity: Present various objects (e.g., a red apple, a green leaf, a yellow mango). Hold up different shapes (e.g., a circular plate, a rectangular book). Show objects of varying sizes (e.g., a large yam, a small potato).
Ask questions: "What colour is this?", "What shape is this plate?", "Is this yam big or small?"
2. Student Activity: Students name the colours of objects presented. Students identify and describe the shapes of objects. Students compare the sizes of different objects. Students draw objects they see in the classroom and colour them appropriately.
Activity 2: Sense of Hearing (15 minutes)
1. Teacher Activity: Play various recorded sounds (e.g., a car horn, a dog barking, a baby crying, a market hawker calling). Make simple sounds using classroom objects (e.g., tapping a desk, clapping hands, ringing a small bell). Ask students to identify the source of each sound.
2. Student Activity: Students identify and describe the sounds heard. Students mimic some of the sounds (e.g., animal sounds). Students identify sounds that are loud or soft, pleasant or unpleasant.
Activity 3: Sense of Smell (15 minutes)
1. Teacher Activity: Prepare items with distinct smells: a cut orange peel (pleasant), a piece of garlic (strong), a tiny drop of perfume (pleasant), a piece of old, dry garri (mildly unpleasant). Ensure items are safe and non-irritating. Blindfold volunteers (optional) or ask students to close their eyes. Present each item one by one for them to smell.
Ask: "What do you smell?", "Is the smell pleasant or unpleasant?"
2. Student Activity: Students detect and describe the odours. Students categorize smells as pleasant or unpleasant. Students identify the object by its smell.
Activity 4: Sense of Taste (15 minutes)
1. Teacher Activity: Prepare small, safe, edible samples: a pinch of sugar (sweet), a pinch of salt (salty), a tiny piece of lime (sour), a tiny piece of bitter leaf or dogoyaro leaf (bitter). Crucially, ensure no allergies exist among students. Provide only very small, safe portions. Give each student a tiny sample of one item at a time.
Ask: "What does it taste like?"
2. Student Activity: Students taste the samples and describe the taste (sweet, sour, salty, bitter). Students identify which food items have which taste.
Activity 5: Sense of Touch (15 minutes)
1. Teacher Activity: Place various objects with different textures and temperatures in a "mystery bag" or on a table: a stone (rough/hard), cotton wool (soft), a smooth plastic bottle, a warm object (e.g., a lukewarm water bottle), a cold object (e.g., a chilled drink can). Ask students to close their eyes or blindfold them (optional) and touch each object.
Ask: "How does it feel? Is it smooth, rough, soft, hard, warm, or cold?"
2. Student Activity: Students feel the objects and describe 5: Sense of Touch (15 minutes)
1. Teacher Activity: Place various objects with different textures and temperatures in a "mystery bag" or on a table: a stone (rough/hard), cotton wool (soft), a smooth plastic bottle, a warm object (e.g., a lukewarm water bottle), a cold object (e.g., a chilled drink can). Ask students to close their eyes or blindfold them (optional) and touch each object.
Ask: "How does it feel? Is it smooth, rough, soft, hard, warm, or cold?"
2. Student Activity: Students feel the objects and describe their texture and temperature. Students distinguish between rough and smooth, hot and cold, hard and soft objects.
Activity 6: Senses and Road Safety (20 minutes)
1. Teacher Activity: Display pictures of different road users (pedestrians, cyclists, drivers, passengers) and road elements (traffic lights, zebra crossing, vehicle). Lead a discussion on how each sense helps us stay safe on the road. For example, "How do your eyes help you when crossing the road?" "What do your ears tell you about an approaching vehicle?" Explain simple road safety rules for pedestrians (look left, right, left again; use pedestrian crossings).
2. Student Activity*: Students identify different road users in the pictures. Students describe how their eyes help them see traffic lights and vehicles. Students explain how their ears help them hear horns and engines. Students practice (role-play) looking left and right before 'crossing' a simulated road in the classroom. * Students name three road users.
Safety and Hazard Detection: The senses are crucial for personal safety.
Sight: Identifying traffic lights (red means stop), seeing open drains, noticing sharp objects on the ground, or recognizing signs of danger (e.g., a snake).
Hearing: Hearing a vehicle horn indicating danger, an alarm clock for school, or someone calling for help.
Smell: Detecting a gas leak in the kitchen, identifying spoilt food by its foul odour, or noticing smoke from a fire.
Taste: Avoiding bitter or strange-tasting substances that could be poisonous.
Touch: Sensing extreme heat or cold to avoid burns or frostbite, or feeling a sharp object before stepping on it.
Nigerian Context: Crucial for navigating busy markets, identifying safe food from local vendors, and understanding environmental risks in rural and urban areas.
Food and Cultural Appreciation: Taste and Smell: The senses are central to appreciating Nigerian cuisine. Learners use taste to enjoy jollof rice, amala, suya, and other local delicacies. The aroma of spices and cooking food is a significant part of Nigerian culture.
Sight: The visual appeal of food presentation (e.g., neatly arranged fruits, colourful dishes) enhances the eating experience.
Nigerian Context: Understanding why certain foods are prepared in specific ways (e.g., bitter leaf soup, spicy peppersoup) and how different senses contribute to the enjoyment of traditional meals and festivities.
Environmental Awareness and Navigation: Sight: Observing the beauty of Nigerian landscapes, distinguishing different types of plants and animals, and reading road signs for navigation.
Hearing: Recognizing the distinct sounds of different birds, animals, or local musical instruments (talking drum, sekere) in their environment.
Touch: Feeling the texture of soil, tree bark, or different fabrics (e.g., ankara, aso-oke).
Nigerian Context: Helps students appreciate their local environment, identify natural features, and understand how to move safely through their community, whether it's a bustling city or a serene village.