Sense and Insensibility

Yesterday I was in my daughter's class for another Scientists in the Schools session. So far I've done Insects twice for both kids in J.K. (playdough bugs, head, thorax, abdomen -- I think we still have one somewhere), Forces with Angus in grade three (physics - hard) and Pulleys and Levers for Angus last term (in French -- hard). Smarter than a fifth grader? Well, yesterday was The Five Senses with Eve's grade one class, and I hit that one out of the park, but everyone from the second grade up can pretty much kick my butt all over town.

I had the Hearing Station. Did you know that animals who live in the desert generally have big ears because they lose body heat through their ears and it keeps them cooler, and animals who live in the arctic have smaller ears because ipso facto ergo hence? Go ahead, tell me you knew that, I won't believe you. The kids didn't know it either, so they're still not smarter than me. We looked at blown-up pictures of animal and insect ears and tried to guess which animal they belonged to (why the hell would they put a shrew in? You know a lot of six or seven-year-olds who are familiar with shrews?). We talked about sign language and learned how to spell everyone's name (Eve was easy. Marianna and Demitrianna gave us all a hand cramp). We experimented with me saying 'hello' to them with their hands in front of their ears and behind, and with small cups and larger cups with the bottoms cut out over their ears (which for some reason made all the boys say 'I come in peace').

Later on in the van on our way back to school for Eve's choir concert she was trying to tell Angus about it. "It was about the five senses. Hear, smell... see..... um, see, touch, taste.... um....see, hear, smell..." finally she said "I figured it out. It's everything on your face, plus your hand."