This webquest aims to teach students about the five senses through interactive activities where they simulate lacking one sense at a time. Students will experience what it's like to lack the senses of smell, touch, sight, hearing, and taste. For each sense, students will engage in activities with and without simulation tools, like clothespins to block smell or blindfolds for sight. They will then discuss their experiences and whether lacking that particular sense seemed like a major or minor issue. The goal is for students to better understand the importance of the five senses through first-hand exploration.

1. Web Quest
Welcome: Missing a Sense
Description: This Webquest’s purpose is to provide students with the knowledge of what it
would be like to lack one of our five senses.
Curriculum: Health/PE
Keywords: senses, hearing, smelling, touching, tasting, and seeing
Author: Carly Cooper
A similar WebQuest to view is http://zunal.com/webquest.php?w=213815
Introduction:
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be blind, deaf, or permanently numb?
What if you could never smell a flower or taste your favorite food again? If you were missing
any of your five senses, some of these tasks would not be possible.
Students will be learning what it would be like to lack any one of their five senses,
whether it be seeing, touching, hearing, smelling, or tasting.
Task:
By the end of this lesson, you will increase your knowledge on the five senses and mainly
learn what it would be like if you lacked one. Through many activities that are hands on and
interactive, you will learn what it would be like if you could not see, hear, taste, touch, or smell
with 95% accuracy within one school week.

2. Process:
Students, you will be learning what it would be like to lack one of the five senses in class.
Each missing sense will be covered and focused on separately. Before beginning, similar
worksheets that go along with these senses and activities can be found at:
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/themes/senses.shtml
http://www.kidsparkz.com/fivesenses.html
http://www.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3757144
http://www.squidoo.com/teaching-sense-of-touch-the-five-senses
These worksheets are on all topics of seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, and smelling. Divide
them up and do each before or after your experiments of that particular sense.
We will begin with the sense of smell.
SMELL: Students, you each will have a clothespin to place on your nose. You will rotate
around stations trying to smell various scents of candles and air fresheners. Once you have
attempted to smell each, you will remove the clothespin and once again smell each scent. After
you have smelled each, you will discuss what it felt like to lack the particular sense and if you
felt that missing the sense of smell was a large or small ordeal.
The next missing sense is touch.
TOUCH: Students, you each will have thick gloves on your hands. You will rotate
around stations holding different object with different textures. Sandpaper, goo, fluffy rugs,
water, and hard rocks will all be attempted to be touched. After you have attempted to touch

3. each, you will remove the gloves and once again touch each. After you have touched each again,
you will discuss what it felt like to lack the particular sense and if you felt that missing the sense
of touch was a large or small ordeal.
The next missing sense is sight.
SIGHT:Students, you each will have a blindfold to place over your eyes. You will be
supervised as you walk around the room and touch certain objects. You will be asked what you
are touching and also asked to find your assigned seat. Once you have attempted each, you will
remove the blindfold and once again complete the activity with the sense of sight. After you have
done each, you will discuss what it felt like to lack the particular sense and if you felt that
missing the sense of sight was a large or small ordeal.
The next missing sense is hearing.
HEARING: Students, you each will have cotton balls to place in your ears. You will
listen to multiple songs, noises, and instruments. Once you have attempted to hear each, you will
remove the cotton balls and once again listen to each song, noise, and instrument. After you have
heard each, you will discuss what it felt like to lack the particular sense and if you felt that
missing the sense of hearing was a large or small ordeal.
The last and probably most difficult sense to attempt to “lack” is taste.
TASTE: Students, for this sense, you will first experience what it is like to taste. You will
rotate around stations tasting orange juice, water, cookies, and chips. Once you have tasted each,
you will be asked to gargle mouthwash for 30 seconds leaving your taste buds altered. You will
then re-taste each of the foods and beverages. Each will taste different. After you have tasted

4. each, you will discuss what it felt like to lack the particular sense and if you felt that having an
altered sense of taste was a large or small ordeal.
Evaluation:
This assignment is more so used for interactive and hands on learning. It will be graded
on participation, discussion, and behavior. Students will be learning the importance of all five
senses and will experience what it would be like to be like others who lack certain senses.
Poor
Excellent
Points
Disorderly, lacks
Few instances of
Great Behavior
25 pts
attention,
misbehavior
Some
Complete
25 pts
Participation
Participation
Has no input;
Answers few
Answers all
does not answer
questions
questions and
questions
pertaining to
successfully has
lesson
Behavior
Average
discussion
misbehaves
Participation
Discussion
No participation
25 pts
Points Total: 75
Conclusion:
Let us recap everything we’ve gone over and learned. Students will experiment and learn
what it is like to lack one of the five senses thus learning their importance. They will see what it
is like to lack normal hearing, seeing, touching, smelling, and tasting capabilities.
Teacher Page:

5. Teachers, this webquest is designed to help your students learn the importance of all five
senses as well as experiencing what it is like to lack one of your five senses as well. Focus on
keeping the students encouraged and enthused as well as making them feel comfortable. These
exercises may be stretched out through the week by allowing each missing sense its own day.
Focusing on one sense instead of all the senses will drive the importance of each.
The materials needed include clothespins, candles, air fresheners, sand paper, goo, fluffy
objects, rocks, blindfolds, CDs, instruments, music players, mouthwash, juice, cookies, water,
chips, etc.
This WebQuest do not call for print outs off websites or web addresses.
CORE STANDARDS:
SC.O.K.1.4 explore and describe objects and events using the five senses to
develop observational skills and make predictions based on personal observation.
SC.O.K.2.1 using the five senses, identify living and non-living things.