Unit 2 – Your Body and Senses

2Your Body and Senses

What are the parts of your body? How do you use your body parts?

In this chapter you will ...

• list the parts of your body and head. • list the five senses and describe how they help you to learn about the world around you. • describe some things you can do to stay healthy.

How do your senses help you learn about the world around you?

Go Online!

Access interactive content relating to this topic on the NGScience website.

ngscience.com

Your Body

You body has different parts. You use different parts of your body to do different things. Your legs and feet help you to walk, run and jump. You use your arms and hands to pick things up or throw a ball.

Parts of Your Body

head

arm

knee

foot

How do you use the different parts of your body?

shoulder

elbow

hand

AB Activity 2.1

leg

forehead

ear

nose mouth

Your Head and Face

Different parts of your head and face help you to sense the world around you.

Your eyes help you to see. Your ears help you to hear.

How do you use your nose and mouth?

AB Activity 2.2

Parts of Your Head

hair

eye

cheek

chin

Which parts of your head and body do you use to sense the world around you?

The Five Senses

You have five senses. Your senses help you to observe the things around you. The five senses are sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch.

AB Activity 2.3

Try This!

Take an object and place it on your table. With a partner, take turns in using a word to describe how the object looks.

Sight

Your eyes are your sense organs for sight. You use your sense of sight to observe how things look.

You use your sense of sight every day. You use your sense of sight when you read and write, play sport, and watch television.

What are some other ways you use your sense of sight?

AB Activity 2.4

Try This!

Hold a pencil sideways in each hand. Close one eye and try to touch the pencils together. Try again with both eyes open. What do you notice?

Try This!

Go into your schoolyard and close your eyes. Talk about the things you can hear.

Listen and identify different sounds on the NGScience website. QuickCode: L4H6

Go Online! Hearing

Your ears are your sense organs for hearing.

You use your sense of hearing to observe how things sound.

Listen to sounds around you. How are the sounds different?

Sounds can be loud or soft.

When you whisper, you make a soft sound.

When you yell or scream, you make a loud sound.

What are some other things that make loud sounds?

AB Activity 2.5

Smell

Your nose is your sense organ for smell.

You use your nose to observe how things smell.

Some things have a good smell. Other things have a bad smell.

What are some ways you use your sense of smell from day to day?

AB Activity 2.6

Amazing Fact!

Your sense of smell improves when you are hungry!

Try This!

Put on a blindfold. Use your sense of taste to guess different snacks!

Taste

Your tongue is your sense organ for taste.

You use your tongue to observe how things taste.

What’s your favorite food? Describe how it tastes.

Some foods, like fruits and candy, taste sweet.

Potato chips taste salty. A chili is spicy.

What are some other ways you can describe how things taste?

AB Activities 2.7 – 2.8

Try This!

Chew on a piece of fruit. Describe how it tastes. Now block your nose and eat another piece of fruit. What do you notice?

Touch

Try This!

Place some objects in a paper bag. Close your eyes and use your hands to feel the objects. Describe how the objects feel. Your skin is your sense organ for touch.

Your skin helps you to observe how things feel.

What words can you use to describe how things feel?

Things can feel hard or soft. Your desk is something that feels hard. The fur of a kitten feels soft.

Things can feel smooth or rough. A book and a pencil feel smooth. A pineapple and sandpaper feel rough.

Use your sense of touch to describe how objects in your home or classroom feel.

AB Activities 2.9 – 2.10

Staying Healthy

Your body is very special. It is very important to take care of your body so that it works well. To take care of your body, you need to stay clean, fit and healthy. This way, your body can keep doing all the things you like to do.

What are some things you can do to stay healthy?

Go Online!

Visit the NGScience website for heaps of healthy tips on keeping fit and staying healthy. QuickCode: X7K6

Try This!

Keep a food diary for a week. Show your food diary to a friend. Talk about how your food diary shows a healthy diet.

Healthy Eating

A great way to take care of your body is to eat a variety of healthy food. Variety means a lot of different types. Fruits and vegetables are very healthy. You should eat about five servings of vegetables and two servings of fruit each day. A serving is about one cup.

Food like eggs, yogurt and cheese are healthy too. These foods help to build strong muscles and bones. Drinking lots of water keeps you healthy too. You should drink about five glasses of water a day. You should also drink water whenever you feel thirsty. You should drink more water after exercising and on hot days.

Think Deeply

Why should you avoid eating too much junk food and drinking too many sodas?

Staying Active

Staying active is a great way to stay healthy. It’s also lots of fun.

You can be active by playing outside with friends.

You can stay active by jogging, dancing, riding a bike or playing a sport.

What are some ways you can stay active at school?

AB Activity 2.11

Keeping Clean

Keeping your body clean helps you to stay healthy. Here are some things you can do to stay clean:

• Take a bath or shower and wash your body with soap. • Wash your hair.

• Brush your teeth.

• Wear clean clothes.

Washing your hands regularly is very important to stop germs from getting into your body. Wash your hands after using the bathroom, when you come in from outside and before you eat. Wash your hands after you blow your nose, cough or sneeze.

Getting Enough Sleep

Your body is very busy during the day. When you sleep, you give your body a rest and get ready for the next day. Getting enough sleep is important to stay healthy. You should try to get at least 10 hours of sleep each night.

AB Activity 2.12

A Closer Look What Are Germs?

Germs are living things that are so small, we cannot see them. Germs can be harmful if they get inside your body. They can cause us to get sick. When you touch things with germs on them, the germs can stick to your hands. These germs can get into your body when you touch your face.

Germs can also be spread to other places when you touch the things around you.

The best way to stop germs from getting into your body is to wash your hands often. When you wash your hands with soap and water, you wash away the germs. You can also use hand gel to kill germs.

How to Wash Your Hands

Washing your hands is the best way to help stop germs getting into your body. It also helps stop germs spreading to other people. Here’s the best way to wash your hands.

1

Turn on the tap and wet your hands with clean warm or cold water. Turn off the tap and apply some soap.

2

Lather your hands with soap by rubbing them together. Rub the soap all over your hands. The front, the back, between your fingers and under your nails.

3

4

Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you!

Keep lathering your hands with soap for about 20 seconds. To know how long 20 seconds is, sing the song Happy Birthday two times!

Turn on the tap and rinse away all the soap. This washes away the germs too! Use a clean cloth or paper towel to turn off the tap and dry your hands.

Did You Know?

When you are sick, your parents may take you to see a doctor. A doctor finds out why you are sick and help you to get better faster.

When You Are Sick

From time to time, germs can get into your body and cause you to get sick. You might have a runny nose, a headache or a sore throat. You might cough and sneeze. When you are sick, you can spread germs to other people. They may get sick too. To stop spreading germs and to get well quickly, you should stay home and get plenty of rest.

Cough and sneeze into a tissue. Put the tissue in a bin and wash your hands. If you don’t have a tissue, you can cough or sneeze into your elbow. You can also wear a face mask when around other people.

Go Online!

Learn more about how we get sick and how to get well fast on the NGScience website. QuickCode: C3Y6

Think Deeply

How does coughing or sneezing into a tissue help to stop spread germs?

Science Words

body legs feet arms hands head face senses sight hearing smell taste touch

Review

1. List two ways you use your arms and hands. 2. List two ways you use your legs and feet. 3. List five different parts of your face. 4. Which sense organ do you use to taste? (a) ears (b) nose (c) tongue 5. Which sense organ do you use to hear? (a) ears (b) nose (c) tongue

6. Which sense organ do you use to see? (a) ears (b) eyes (c) tongue 7. True or false. (a) You should eat a variety of healthy foods. (b) Drinking lots of water keeps you healthy. 8. List three ways you can stay active. 9. List three ways you can keep your body clean. 10. Why is it important to wash your hands regularly? 11. What should you do when you are sick? (a) Play with your friends. (b) Stay home and get plenty of rest. (c) Cough and sneeze into your hands.

In the Field

Eating healthy food is a great way to take care of your body. A dietitian is a scientist that knows all about foods and the different ways they can help your body. Dietitians teach people how to stay healthy by eating healthy foods. If you are sick, a dietitian can help you choose the right foods to get better quickly.