ENGAGE

Hot and Cold Game [10 min]

To introduce students to the concept of senses and sensors, play a quick game of “Hot and Cold”.

• Select an item in the classroom that is the “goal” or what students will find. Keep this a secret!
• Have a student be the guesser. Have this student close their eyes or leave the classroom while the rest of the group decides on the “goal” item.
• Invite the guesser back into the classroom and begin to slowly walk around to try and find the “goal”.
• As the guesser moves around, the rest of the class shouts out variations of “hot, hotter, cold, colder” to give hints as to their closeness to the “goal” item.
• When the guesser finds the item the class should shout, “red hot!”

Play a few rounds, asking for student volunteers to be the guesser.

For further directions and variations see: Hot or cold - The Game Gal 

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Intro to Senses and Sensors [25 mins]

Materials for each small group (4-5 students):

• 1 working cellphone (students will explore sensors in a cell phone like voice activation, cameras, etc.). 
  

NOTE: Consider whether students can use their own phones or whether to source a few to use only in this activity depending on the rules of your school.

5 min Script: Think about the game we played, “Hot and Cold”. What did the guesser need to use to win the game? (sense of hearing, sight, maybe touch). People have senses, or sensors, that help us to learn about the world around us. Our five senses are smell, taste, touch, hearing, and seeing. And these senses can be replicated in technology as sensors. Let’s explore sensors more.

5 min Display and Discuss:

• Display images of the 5 human senses and discuss:

• Sensors transmit information to your brain. More generally, sensors convert one type of information to another.
• What information might the sense of smell provide? Whether something is good or bad to eat; whether a place is safe or unsafe; etc.
•  What information might the sense of taste provide? Whether something is good or bad, safe or unsafe to eat; etc.
• What information might the sense of touch provide? Information about what something is made of; if something is safe or unsafe; if something will be comfortable or uncomfortable; if something can be easily moved or picked up; etc.
• What information might the sense of hearing provide? You could hear sounds that are warnings of danger or calming sounds; you could hear announcements with important information; etc.
• What information might the sense of sight provide? You can see if something is safe or unsafe, good or bad; you can see people you know or strangers; etc.
• Have you ever been in a situation where one of your 5 senses saved the day? What happened? Accept all responses.

10 min Explore: Allow students to explore freely the sensors in a cell phone in small groups of 4-5. Depending on the rules of your school, students can use phones of their own or you can gather old phones for students to work with. As they explore, encourage them to discuss amongst themselves:

• What sensors do you think are most obvious in a phone?
• What sensors were you surprised to find?
• Why do you think phones include these types of sensors?

Collect the cellphones and store them safely or ask students to put their phones away into their bags.

TIP: If needed, you can do this portion of the activity as a whole group activity using your own phone to demonstrate.

5 min Discuss‍

Think about a cellphone.

• Can it “see”? Yes. What functions of a cell phone involve sight? Camera, facial recognition, etc.‍
• Can it “hear”? Yes. What functions of a cell phone involve hearing? Phone, video, microphone, voice to text, etc.‍
• Can it “smell”? No.‍
• Can it “taste”? No.‍
• Can it “touch”? No.

If a cell phone could smell, taste, or touch what new functions would it be able to do?