Senses, Brain & Responses
Use a model to describe that animals receive information through their senses, process it in their brain, and respond in different ways
What a learner can do afterwards
- Describe the pathway: sense organ detects stimulus → brain processes information → body responds
- Give examples of different animal senses (sight, smell, hearing, echolocation, vibration)
- Explain how the same stimulus can produce different responses in different animals
The lesson
Every animal follows the same three steps when something happens around it. First, a sense organ detects it: an ear picks up a sound, a nose picks up a smell. Second, the brain processes that information and figures out what it means. Third, the body responds with an action.
A dog is in the yard. Its ears pick up a rustling sound and its nose picks up a new smell. The dog's brain processes this and decides: that could be a squirrel. The dog's body responds by running toward the sound.
Different animals have different senses that fit their world. Bats use echolocation: they make sounds and listen for the echo bouncing off objects to find their way in the dark. Snakes feel vibrations in the ground through their bodies. Sharks can smell tiny drops in the water from far away.
The same event can cause different responses in different animals. A loud bang might make a dog bark, a cat run and hide, and a bird fly away. Each brain decides what fits that animal.
Sense organs detect, the brain decides, and the body responds, and different animals sense the same world in different ways.
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