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How We Smell, Taste, and Feel — Reading Comprehension

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Grades

Standards

NGSS 4-LS1-2
LS1.D

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About This Reader

This audio-integrated reading passage introduces fourth-grade students to the fundamental concept of how sensory organs gather information from the environment. Aligned with NGSS standard 4-LS1-2 and Disciplinary Core Idea LS1.D, the passage explains how the nose detects particles in the air, how the tongue identifies different tastes, and how the skin senses pressure, temperature, and pain. Students discover that all three senses follow the same pattern: detect a signal, send a message to the brain, and let the brain interpret the information. The passage uses age-appropriate language and relatable examples to help students understand sensory processing. Vocabulary terms like receptors and taste buds are clearly defined. The content builds foundational knowledge for hands-on investigations about how animals and humans receive and process information from their environment. Audio support makes the passage accessible to diverse learners, including English language learners and students with reading difficulties.

CONTENT PREVIEW

A young girl with brown hair enjoys a moment with a red flower outdoors. — Image credit Joel Santos / Pexels.

Your body has special organs that help you learn about the world around you. Three important sense organs are your nose, tongue, and skin. These organs collect information and send it to your brain so you can understand what is happening.

Your nose detects smells in the air. When you breathe in, tiny particles from things around you enter your nose. Inside your nose are special receptors—cells that can detect these particles. The receptors send messages through nerves to your brain. Your brain figures out what the smell is, like fresh cookies or flowers.

Your tongue helps you taste food. On your tongue are tiny bumps called taste buds. These taste buds can detect four main tastes: sweet, salty, sour, and bitter. When you eat something, the taste buds send messages to your brain. Your brain decides what flavor you are tasting. Think of your taste buds like tiny detectives that report what they find to the brain.

Your skin is covered with receptors that detect touch, temperature, and pain. When you touch something hot, cold, rough, or smooth, receptors in your skin send messages to your brain. Your brain tells you what you are feeling and helps you react quickly, like pulling your hand away from something too hot.

All three senses work the same way: they detect something, send a message to the brain, and the brain figures out what it means.

Interesting Fact: Your tongue can detect about 10,000 different flavors by combining the four basic tastes with smell signals from your nose!

What do receptors do?

They detect signals and send messagesThey make food taste betterThey create smells in the airThey protect the brain from damage

How many main tastes can tongue detect?

Two main tastesThree main tastesFour main tastesFive main tastes

What does the skin detect?

Only temperature changesTouch, temperature, and painOnly smells and tastesColors and light

Why does the brain receive messages?

To create new receptorsTo make the senses strongerTo figure out what you senseTo stop you from feeling pain

How would your tongue help with food?

It would tell temperature onlyIt would detect sweet or salty tastesIt would create new flavorsIt would smell the food