Scientific Organization and Sequencing SC010103 Unit 1: Properties of Objects
Lesson 3: How Does It Feel?
Big Ideas of the Lesson Four properties that can be felt are hard, soft, rough, and smooth. Objects can have more than one property. Other properties that can be felt are hot, cold, light, and heavy. Texture is the way that something feels.
Abstract In this lesson children use their sense of touch to describe and classify objects. They learn the vocabulary for describing textures and the way an object feels. Children have opportunities to explore the textures and properties of the world around them.
Grade Level Context Expectation(s) Children will: demonstrate the ability to sort objects according to observable attributes such as color, shape, size, sinking, or floating (P.PM.01.11). plan and conduct simple investigations to observe and determine the properties of various objects (S.IP.01.13).
Key Concept(s) attribute/property material/object observable shape/size/color/texture
Instructional Resources Equipment/Manipulative Attribute blocks (1 set) Crayons (1 pack per child) Glue sticks (1 per child) Magazines (1 per child) Miscellaneous objects (variety of textures including wax paper, cotton balls, sandpaper, feathers, corrugated cardboard, bingo chips, etc.) Mystery bag Paper (1 sheet per child) Pencils (1 per child) Scissors (1 pair per child) Shells (variety of textures)
Student Resource Hewitt, Sally. Amazing Materials. New York: Crabtree Publishing, 2008.
The Oakland Schools Curriculum Page 1 of 5 scope.oakland.k12.mi.us July 1, 2009 Scientific Organization and Sequencing SC010103 Unit 1: Properties of Objects
---. Hear This! New York: Crabtree Publishing, 2008.
---. Look Here! New York: Crabtree Publishing, 2008. ---. Smell It! New York: Crabtree Publishing, 2008.
---. Tastes Good! New York: Crabtree Publishing, 2008.
---. Touch That! New York: Crabtree Publishing, 2008.
Kessler, Dawn, and Claudia Douglass. Supplemental Materials (SC01010301.doc). Teacher-made materials. Waterford, MI: Oakland Schools, 2008.
Teacher Resource Fowler, Allan. Feeling Things. Danbury, CT: Children’s Press Inc., 1991.
Hartley, Karen, Chris Macro, and Philip Taylor. Touching in Living Things. Crystal Lake, IL: Heinemann Books, 2000.
Kessler, Dawn, and Claudia Douglass. First Grade Unit 1 Teacher Background (SC010100TB.doc). Teacher-made material. Waterford, MI: Oakland Schools, 2008.
Lesson Four: Touch. 2001. Southwest Educational Development Laboratory. 9 October 2008
Touch. Ed. Eric H. Chudler. 9 October 2008
Vaugh, Marcia. Hands, Hands, Hands. Greenvale, NY: Mondo Publishing, 1986.
Young, Ed. Seven Blind Mice. New York: Scholastic Inc., 1992.
Sequence of Activities Advance Preparation: Purchase or make a mystery bag. The bag should be about 12” square and should seal tightly. A cloth bag can be made from old pant legs or pillowcases and sealed with a shoelace as a drawstring or a strip of Velcro. Collect objects that offer a variety of textures, such as cotton balls, sandpaper, rocks, marbles, blocks, felt, feathers, corrugated cardboard, beads, etc. Enlarge the How Does It Feel Student Page for use in Step 6. Put a collection of books (touch and feel) with different textures at a center for the children to explore.
1. Introduce this lesson by reading the book, Feeling Things. Use the book as a springboard for discussing the variety of information we learn from our sense of touch. Use the ‘touch and feel’ books to introduce the vocabulary for describing the texture of an object. As you show the pages, allow the children to touch them and describe how they feel [soft, hard, smooth, rough, bumpy, etc.].
The Oakland Schools Curriculum Page 2 of 5 scope.oakland.k12.mi.us July 1, 2009 Scientific Organization and Sequencing SC010103 Unit 1: Properties of Objects
2. Read the book, Hands, Hands, Hands and make the connection that our hands help us discover how an object feels.
3. Arrange the children in a circle and place a variety of objects with different textures in the center. Explain to the children that they are going to classify the objects by the way they feel. Review the vocabulary associated with touch. Give the children time to sort the objects into piles of similar objects (all soft, all rough, etc.). Describe and classify the shells from Lesson 2 based on how they feel.
4. Have the children go on a texture hunt around the room or outdoors and find things that are soft. Repeat this activity for a variety of textures. Put objects with similar properties in a group on a table for display. Label the groups. Have the children describe the property of their object as they place it in the appropriate group. For example, a child might say, “This block is smooth” or “This pine cone is rough.” Make a connection that an object can have more than one property such as being smooth and hard.
5. Discuss with the children the following concept: How something feels can include attributes like hot and cold or light and heavy. Discuss objects that are hot and objects that are cold. Ask the children to look around the room and identify objects that have those attributes. Repeat this activity for objects that are heavy and light.
6. Using an enlarged version of the Student Page children can make their own chart of textures. Provide a variety of objects of different textures so that the children can glue appropriate objects in the boxes. Use a cotton ball for soft, corrugated cardboard for bumpy, a bingo chip for hard, wax paper for smooth, a feather for light, sandpaper for rough, and objects for heavy, hot and cold can be cut out of a magazine or drawn by the child. [Note: Instead of using the Student Page, the children could make a book of textures with a page for each attribute.]
7. Discuss with the children what it means to be blind and ask them to think about how people who are blind use their other senses to learn about the world. Read the story, Seven Blind Mice. Ask the children how the mice identified the “mystery object” in the story. Make the connection that it was by using their sense of touch. If possible invite a visually impaired person to the class to describe how they choose their clothes or identify money.
8. Put an attribute block inside the mystery bag and give the children an opportunity to guess the shape by the way it feels. Instruct the children to use their sense of touch to learn about an object. Ask the children what they need to know to identify an attribute block. Have them describe the number of sides, whether the edges are straight or rounded, etc.
9. Set up several mystery bags with attribute blocks or other objects at a center for children to explore as time permits.
Assessment Individually assess the children by giving them a handful of objects and asking them to classify them by how they feel. The Oakland Schools Curriculum Page 3 of 5 scope.oakland.k12.mi.us July 1, 2009 Scientific Organization and Sequencing SC010103 Unit 1: Properties of Objects
Application Beyond School Children could share their How Does It Feel? chart with their family. Together they can find objects around their house that share the same attribute as the objects on the chart. If possible the objects can be added to the chart.
The Oakland Schools Curriculum Page 4 of 5 scope.oakland.k12.mi.us July 1, 2009 Scientific Organization and Sequencing SC010103 Unit 1: Properties of Objects
Connections Mathematics The children could make an AB texture pattern with the objects, for example, rough, smooth, rough, smooth, etc.
The Oakland Schools Curriculum Page 5 of 5 scope.oakland.k12.mi.us July 1, 2009