Keep this beat light and curious. Ask the class to close their eyes for a few seconds, then open them. Invite two or three children to say what they could still hear or feel (a chair scrape, the radiator, their jumper).

Key question: How do we find out about the world around us? Accept any answer that points to looking, listening, smelling, tasting or touching. Do not name all five senses yet.

Before the lesson: check the class allergy list for fruit and strong scents. Set up the four circuit stations plus the teacher-controlled taste offer (see Explore step). Have the diagram-labeller ready on the IWB. Print the Investigation Journal page for each child.

Drive the diagram-labeller on the IWB in explore mode so labels are not pre-placed. Work with the class to place one label at a time. After each match, children point to the same part on their own bodies and chorus the pair before you move on.

Reveal order (one pair at a time):

1. eyes: We see with our eyes.
2. ears: We hear with our ears.
3. nose: We smell with our nose.
4. tongue: We taste with our tongue (in our mouth).
5. hands: We feel with our hands. Add once: Our hands help us feel, and our skin can feel too, like when rain lands on your arm.

Use the word tongue every time for taste (on the board label, in your talk, and when children answer). If a child says mouth, affirm: Yes, the tongue inside our mouth does the tasting.

Model one beat aloud before the circuit: hold up the feely-bag. Say: I wonder what is inside. I think it might feel soft. I put my hand in… I noticed it is soft and squashy. I think it is a sponge. I used my hands to feel.

Misconception to head off: some children say we only have eyes for finding things out. Gently show that ears, nose, tongue and hands find things out too.

Ask after each label: Which part do we use to ___? Show me on your body.

How the circuit runs (one teacher)

Do not open five stations at once. Lead a whole-class circuit: the class moves with you from station to station. You supervise every stop. Aim for about two minutes of exploring at each stop, then call the move. Every child should reach at least three stations, and every child should visit smell or the teacher-controlled taste offer, plus at least one other.

Suggested route (about 11 minutes including short moves):

1. Touch (feely-bag) — whole class watches a few children take turns, or pass the bag under close watch.
2. Hearing (shaker pots) — children take turns to shake gently and say loud, quiet, or almost silent.
3. Smell (smell pots) — lids mostly on; children sniff the open rim with you beside them. No tasting.
4. Sight (look-closely tray) — look with careful eyes or chunky magnifiers; say colour, shape or pattern.
5. Taste (teacher-controlled offer) — back on the carpet. You offer tiny washed fruit only to children already cleared on the allergy list. Children who cannot taste stay with the group, name the tongue for tasting, and may re-visit smell or touch beside you.

Station set-up (what to put out)

• Touch (feely-bag): one cloth bag with a sponge, a wooden block, a soft fabric scrap and a smooth spoon. Children reach in without looking and say soft, hard, bumpy or smooth.
• Hearing (shaker pots): three sealed clear pots — one with dry rice, one with cotton wool, one with pasta shapes.
• Smell (smell pots): three sealed pots with cotton wool dabbed with vanilla essence, a piece of orange peel, and a few mint leaves (or coffee grounds). Sniff only.
• Sight (look-closely tray): a tray with a leaf, a shell or smooth stone, a shiny spoon and a button, plus chunky magnifiers if you have them.
• Taste (safe fruit): tiny washed pieces of apple or banana in individual cups, prepared only for children you have already cleared. Water cups nearby. You decide who may taste from the class allergy list. Never ask children to decide if it is safe.

Teaching tips

At each stop, ask: Which body part are you using? What did you find out? Revoice answers: You used your nose to smell the orange.

Safety: sleeves up at the taste offer; wipe spills; no sharing cups; magnets and small loose parts are not used today. Keep smell pots sealed when not in use. Wash hands after the circuit.

Differentiation: quieter children can show by pointing to eyes, ears, nose, tongue or hands. Confident talkers can say one describing word (soft, loud, sweet).

Whole-class oral observation beat. Children stay seated or gather on the carpet. Call on a few children, one station at a time, so the class hears all five senses named.

Prompts to use:

• Who used their hands? What did you feel?
• Who used their ears? What did you hear?
• Who used their nose? What did you smell?
• Who used their eyes? What did you see up close?
• Who used their tongue? What did you taste? (Only children who tasted.)

Revoice every answer with the sense and body part: Aoife used her ears to hear the rice shake.

Look-for: children can point to or name the body part and say one thing they noticed. Guessing the exact object in the bag is a bonus, not required.

This beat stays in class before Make-sense talk. Hand out the Investigation Journal page and crayons. Children draw one sense body part and something they noticed at a station. They do not need to write words; if a child wants a label, you or an SNA may scribe a single word they say (soft, rice, apple).

Sentence starter to say aloud (not for writing): I used my ___ to ___.

Circulate and ask each child to point to their drawing and tell you the sense. Praise noticing, not neatness.

Fast finishers: add one more detail to the same drawing (the pot, the tray, a friend at the station). No second sheet and no device task.