We learn about the body Part 11 - Facts on the senses - Information for kids Gr 2

We as humans have different senses, 5 to be exact.  We can hear with our ears, we can see with our eyes, we can smell with our nose, we can feel with our skin and we can taste with our tongue.

In our eyes we have photoreceptors and they are 'rods and cones'.  The rods picks up the light and the cones are there to see colour.  These are found in the retina of the eye.

Our sense of hearing is possible because we can pick up the vibration of sound with our ears.  The eardrum will vibrate and then the little bones and the vibration and it will be turned into impulses that is send to the brain and the brain will send a message back to let you know what you hear.

The sense of touch is activated by neural receptors such as hair follicles found in the skin, but also pressure receptors on the tongue and throat. 

We have taste buds on our tongues and it is these taste buds that will help you taste the basics tastes like bitter, sweet, sour, salty and savoury.

We can smell because we have sensory cells in our noses.  Smelling and tasting actually works together.  Have you ever had a cold with a blocked nose and then if you eat, you cannot taste anything?  Flavour is a combination of taste and smell senses.

Animals also have senses and some senses are developed more than others.  A dog can smell very good and a cat can see better at night that what a human can.

Butterflies and flies have taste organs on the bottom of their feet so that they can 'taste' the food or the flower they land on.

Many animals have senses that we as humans do not have.  Like some birds can see ultraviolet light and dolphins and bats uses their radar to 'see' objects.

 Certain fish and rays can detect changes in nearby electrical fields and many bird species use the Earth's magnetic fields to determine the direction they are flying.