Night Senses: Why Do Different Animals Notice Different Things?
Sim Lesson
Students use the Night Senses simulation to explore the same nighttime forest with an owl's vision and a dog's sense of smell, and compare what each sense detects. Lesson Purpose Students are learning that animals take in information through their senses. Comparing sight with smell in the same scene shows that each sense receives a different kind of information, so different senses find different things.
Your dog can smell a treat you hid, even when it cannot see it. An owl can spot a tiny mouse in the dark. Different animals sense the world in different ways. How does each animal find different things in the same place? In this lesson, you will use the Night Senses simulation to look at the same nighttime forest through an owl's eyes and a dog's nose.
Topics and standards: Science, Biology, Life Science, Simulation, Human Biology, Organ Systems, Diversity of Life, Grades 3-5, 5-LS1-1, 4-LS1-2, Forms of Life, TEKS Science 3.13.A, 5-LS1-1, SC.5.L.14.2, 3.1.4.B, 3.1.5.A