Super Senses — Class 5 EVS (CBSE)
Based on the NCERT Looking Around Grade 5 textbook. Explore the amazing world of animal senses, then solve the practice set.
1. Why this chapter matters
Animals have incredible senses that help them survive. Ants can smell food from far away. Eagles can see a tiny mouse from high in the sky. Dogs can hear sounds we cannot. This chapter opens students' eyes to the sensory world of animals and compares it with our own senses. It also discusses what happens when people lose one sense — the other senses become sharper. Understanding animal senses helps us appreciate the diversity of life on Earth.
2. How animals use their senses
Every animal uses its senses to find food, avoid danger, find a mate, and communicate. Different animals rely on different senses depending on their needs and environment.
Ants
Ants have a very strong sense of smell. They use their antennae to smell food and follow scent trails left by other ants. An ant can smell sugar from many metres away. Ants also leave a chemical trail (pheromones) so other ants can follow.
Mosquitoes
Female mosquitoes are attracted to the carbon dioxide that humans and animals breathe out. They can sense CO2 from up to 30 metres away. They are also attracted to body heat and certain chemicals in sweat.
Dogs
Dogs have an extraordinary sense of smell. They can smell things that humans cannot even detect. That is why dogs are used to find missing people, detect drugs, and sniff out food. Dogs can also hear sounds at much higher frequencies than humans.
Eagles
Eagles have incredibly sharp eyesight. They can see a small animal on the ground from high in the sky. An eagle's eyes are designed to spot movement from very far away. Their vision is about 4-8 times sharper than human vision.
Snakes
Snakes do not have external ears. They 'hear' by feeling vibrations through the ground. Their forked tongue picks up scent particles from the air to help them locate prey.
| Animal | Super sense | How it helps |
|---|---|---|
| Ant | Smell through antennae | Find food, follow trails |
| Mosquito | Detect CO2 and heat | Find humans to bite |
| Dog | Smell (up to 100,000 times better than humans) | Track, hunt, bond |
| Eagle | Vision (4-8x sharper than humans) | Spot prey from far |
| Snake | Feel vibrations, smell with tongue | Detect danger, find prey |
3. Human senses
Humans have five main senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch.
| Sense | Organ | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Sight | Eyes | See colours, shapes, movement |
| Hearing | Ears | Hear sounds, music, speech |
| Smell | Nose | Detect odours and scents |
| Taste | Tongue | Taste sweet, sour, salty, bitter, umami |
| Touch | Skin | Feel pressure, temperature, pain |
Sensory compensation
When a person loses one sense, the other senses often become stronger. For example, people who cannot see often develop a very sharp sense of hearing and touch.
4. Sensory deprivation experiment
Activity: Close your eyes for 5 minutes. Try to identify sounds around you. Notice how your hearing becomes sharper when you cannot see. This shows how our senses work together.
5. Activity corner
Activity 1: Place a piece of jaggery or sugar in one corner of your classroom. Release an ant near it. Watch how the ant finds the sugar. After some time, more ants will follow the scent trail.
Activity 2: Blindfold a friend. Let them smell three different things (onion, lemon, flower) and identify each. Record how many they get right.
Activity 3: Sit quietly in a garden or park for 5 minutes. Write down all the sounds you hear, things you see, and smells you notice.
6. Common mistakes
- Mistake: Thinking all animals have the same senses as humans Fix: Many animals have senses that are different or much stronger than human senses.
- Mistake: Believing mosquitoes bite for food Fix: Only female mosquitoes bite. They need blood to lay eggs, not for food.
- Mistake: Thinking snakes can hear sounds through ears like humans Fix: Snakes feel vibrations through the ground. They do not have external ears.
7. Key facts
- Ants use antennae to smell and communicate.
- Dogs have an extremely powerful sense of smell.
- Eagles have the sharpest eyesight in the animal kingdom.
- Mosquitoes are attracted to CO2 and body heat.
- Snakes feel vibrations and smell with their tongue.
- Humans have five main senses. Losing one sharpens others.
- Sensory abilities vary greatly across the animal kingdom.
8. Self-test
- How do ants find food?
- Which animal has the best eyesight among those studied?
- How do dogs help humans with their sense of smell?
- What attracts mosquitoes to humans?
- Name two ways in which animal senses are different from human senses.
9. Answer key
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How do ants find food? Answer: Ants use their antennae to smell food. They follow scent trails left by other ants.
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Which animal has the best eyesight among those studied? Answer: The eagle has the best eyesight. It can see small prey from high in the sky.
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How do dogs help humans with their sense of smell? Answer: Dogs help in search and rescue, detecting drugs, and tracking missing people.
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What attracts mosquitoes to humans? Answer: Carbon dioxide (CO2) that we breathe out, body heat, and certain chemicals in sweat.
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Name two ways in which animal senses are different from human senses. Answer: Animals like dogs have a much stronger sense of smell. Snakes feel vibrations instead of hearing sounds through ears. Eagles have sharper vision than humans.
10. Quick revision
- Ants: smell through antennae, leave scent trails.
- Mosquitoes: detect CO2 and heat.
- Dogs: extraordinary sense of smell.
- Eagles: 4-8x sharper vision than humans.
- Snakes: feel vibrations, smell with tongue.
- Humans: five senses — sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch.
- Losing one sense strengthens the others.
- Observe animals around you to understand their senses.
