The Five Senses
Grade 2 · Science · Study Guide
We use our five senses every single day! Learn how each sense helps us learn about the world around us.
Your body has five amazing senses that help you learn about the world. The five senses are sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. Each sense uses a special body part called a sense organ to gather information and send it to your brain.
Your eyes give you sight — they let you see colors, shapes, and movement. Your ears give you hearing — they pick up sounds and help you balance. Your nose gives you smell — it can detect thousands of different odors! Your tongue gives you taste — it can sense sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and savory flavors. Your skin gives you touch — it can feel texture, temperature, pressure, and pain.
All five senses work together to keep you safe and help you enjoy life. They help you know when food is hot, when a car is coming, or when something smells delicious! Scientists and doctors study our senses to understand how the brain works.
| Sense | Sense Organ | What It Detects |
|---|---|---|
| Sight | Eyes | Light, color, shapes, movement |
| Hearing | Ears | Sounds, vibrations |
| Smell | Nose | Odors and scents |
| Taste | Tongue | Sweet, salty, sour, bitter, savory |
| Touch | Skin | Texture, temperature, pressure, pain |
Key terms
- sense
- A way your body gathers information about the world (sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch)
- sense organ
- A body part that collects information for the brain (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, skin)
- sight
- The sense that lets us see, using our eyes
- hearing
- The sense that lets us hear sounds, using our ears
- smell
- The sense that lets us detect odors, using our nose
- touch
- The sense that lets us feel textures and temperature, using our skin
Flashcards
- Sight
- The sense of seeing; uses the eyes
- Hearing
- The sense of detecting sounds; uses the ears
- Smell
- The sense of detecting odors; uses the nose
- Taste
- The sense of tasting flavors; uses the tongue
- Touch
- The sense of feeling textures and temperature; uses the skin
- Sense organ
- A body part that gathers information for the brain
Practice questions
Which sense organ do you use to hear sounds?
- Eyes
- Nose
- Ears
- Tongue
Show answer
Answer: Ears
Your ears are the sense organs for hearing. They collect sound waves and send signals to your brain.
The tongue is the sense organ for taste.
Show answer
Answer: True
The tongue has taste buds that detect sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and savory flavors.
The five senses are sight, hearing, smell, taste, and ___.
Show answer
Answer: touch
The five senses are sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch — one for each main sense organ.
Which sense helps you know if something is hot or cold?
- Sight
- Hearing
- Taste
- Touch
Show answer
Answer: Touch
Your skin's touch receptors detect temperature, letting you feel whether something is hot or cold.
Your skin is a sense organ for touch.
Show answer
Answer: True
The skin is the body's largest sense organ, detecting touch, temperature, pressure, and pain.
Fun facts
- Your nose can detect over 1 trillion different smells!
- The human eye can see about 10 million different colors!
- Your skin is your body's largest organ and it is full of touch receptors!
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