LibGuides: Educator Guide: Nature Explorers: Nature Explorers Educator Guide

Nature Explorers

Tips to Come Prepared

Before you visit the Genovesi Environmental Study Center (GESC) with your class, review the Educator's Guide to prepare for your students.

Read the Essential Questions (p. 1) and Connections to Standards (p. 2) to decide how you want to link your curriculum with your field trip
Complete the Pre-Visit Lesson with your class activating student interest and engagement
Come to GESC ready to engage and learn with our experiential, hands-on field trip program, Nature Explorers

Library Finds

My Five Senses by Aliki (Illustrator) Sight, smell, taste, hearing, and touch--our five senses teach us about our world. Beloved author-illustrator Aliki's simple, engaging text and colorful artwork show young readers how they use their senses to smell a rose or play with a puppy. This nonfiction picture book is an excellent choice to share during homeschooling, in particular for children ages 4 to 6. It's a fun way to learn to read and as a supplement for activity books for children. Now rebranded with a new cover look, this bestselling picture book invites young readers to use each of their five senses to explore the world around them. Both text and artwork were expert-reviewed for accuracy. As Children's Books and Their Creators put it: Aliki "treats complex topics clearly and succinctly while providing lively pictures, with informative details and humorous elements often appearing in 'balloons.'" Aliki's books continue to speak to today's young readers. This is a Level 1 Let's-Read-and-Find-Out, which means the book explores introductory concepts perfect for children in the primary grades and supports the Common Core Learning Standards and Next Generation Science Standards. Let's-Read-and-Find-Out is the winner of the American Association for the Advancement of Science/Subaru Science Books & Films Prize for Outstanding Science Series.
Explores the Senses by Joanna Cole; Bruce Degen (Illustrator) To celebrate its 20th anniversary, Scholastic is re-releasing the ten original Magic School Bus titles in paperback. With updated scientific information, the bestselling science series ever is back!On a most sense-sational trip that takes them through an eye, an ear, a tongue, and even a dog's nose, Ms. Frizzle's class learns about the senses. Using their trademark sense of humor, Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen provide facts about the senses in both the human and animal worlds. Don't miss the all-new Magic School Bus: Rides Again book series and the animated show streaming on Netflix now!
Animal Senses by Jodie Mangor Imagine being able to taste or hear with your feet, or feel your way through the dark with your nose! Like humans, animals interact with the world through their senses. Unlike humans, many animals use their senses in truly unique ways to communicate, reproduce, and survive.
Senses Are for Everything by Katherine Hengel This title introduces young readers to the five senses. Engaging photos show kids using their ears, eyes, hands, mouths and noses in relation to real world experiences like going to a baseball game or playing at the beach. Simple sentences make this title fun for kids to read and understand the what, how, when and why of the five senses. Fun facts, a comprehension quiz and a glossary are also included. Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards.Sandcastle is an imprint of Abdo Publishing, a division of ABDO.
The Five Senses by Keith Faulkner; Jonathan Lambert (Illustrator) Pull the tabs to learn about hearing, tasting, touching, smelling, and seeing! The ears of an aardvark Can hear every sound. They can hear tiny ants Who walk underground. Rhyming text and brightly colored illustrations teach children about the five senses. Children can pull a tab on each spread to watch an animal move and use one of its senses. An aardvark hears its prey, a bear tastes honey, a chimp touches her baby, an elephant smells a lion, and a bushbaby sees a bug.
Animal Senses by Pamela Hickman; Pat Stephens (Illustrator) Imagine that you had to taste your dinner by walking on it, like a butterfly, or use your tongue to sniff out your next snack, like a snake. Animal Senses reveals the extraordinary ways animals sense their environment. Easy-to-do experiments and activities show kids how to compare animal senses to their own. With stunning, realistic illustrations, this book from the Animal Behavior series is an innovative approach to understanding animal life.
The Listening Walk by Paul Showers; Aliki (Illustrator) With art by home and classroom favorite Aliki, The Listening Walk, will remind both adults and kids of the wonders all around them...if they slow down and listen. This picture book is an excellent choice to share during homeschooling, in particular for children ages 4 to 6. It's a fun way to learn to read and as a supplement for activity books for children. "A fine resource for studying the senses."--Booklist Put on your socks and shoes--and don't forget your ears! We're going on a listening walk. Shhhhh. Do not talk. Do not hurry. Get ready to fill your ears with a world of wonderful and surprising sounds. A little girl and her father take a quiet walk and identify the sounds around them. Soon the girl discovers an extraordinary world of sounds in her everyday environment.

Essential Questions

What are the five senses?
How are the senses used to explore, investigate, and understand the natural world around us?
How do the senses keep living things safe?
How do animals and plants use their senses to survive and thrive in their natural habitat?

Our Educator Guide

Nature Explorers Educator Guide

Sora eBooks

Access these free ebooks by signing in to the Sora app with your NYC DOE credentials

Lo Que Huelo / What I Smell by Alex Appleby How do we know when it's time to eat? Sometimes, it's because we smell something yummy cooking! Early readers dive nose-first into the world of the smells around them, including bad smells like a garbage dump or good smells like apple pie. Accessible language and strong picture-text correlation, presented in standard Latin American Spanish and English, introduces readers to all of the things the nose knows!
Lo Que Veo / What I See by Alex Appleby From the moment we open our eyes in the morning to the time we turn out the lights at night, there's lots to see in our world. In this exciting early concepts book, presented in both Latin American Spanish and English, beginning readers learn to take what they see and learn from it. Through accessible text and strong picture-text correlation aided by full color photographs, budding readers' eyes will be opened to the world around them as they learn about this vital sense.
Lo Que Oigo / What I Hear by Alex Appleby Hearing is an important sense for those just beginning to explore the world. From the chirping of birds to the sound of cars and trucks, a good sense of hearing can teach people a lot about the beauty and dangers of the world around them. In this exciting book presented in standard Latin American Spanish and English, early readers learn how hearing impacts their world. Full-color photographs also provide a strong picture-text correlation, while a picture glossary helps enhance vocabulary skills.
Lo Que Pruebo / What I Taste by Alex Appleby Who doesn't love to dive into a good meal? Our sense of taste is important--without it, how would we know what we like to eat? Early readers take a tour of their taste buds and explore worlds of flavor. From a fresh, sweet orange to a yummy slice of pizza, readers will learn all about this savory sense with text presented in standard Latin American Spanish and English. Strong picture-text correlation enhanced by full-color photographs helps build early reading skills in budding, hungry readers.
Lo Que Toco / What I Touch by Alex Appleby Touch is one of the earliest senses we develop. It's easy to understand: just reach out and grab it! Beginning readers are given an opportunity to explore a world of textures in this book presented in standard Latin American Spanish and English. From rough surfaces like sand to smooth cloths and silks, the contrast between sensations makes for a learning experience at every turn. Full-color photographs provide strong picture-text correlation to enhance comprehension of this basic science concept.
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin; Eric Carle (Illustrator) A big happy frog, a plump purple cat, a handsome blue horse, and a soft yellow duck-- all parade across the pages of this delightful classic children's book,Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? Children will immediately respond to Eric Carle's flat, boldly colored collages. Combined with Bill Martin's singsong text, they create unforgettable images of these endearing animals.
Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? by Bill Martin; Eric Carle (Illustrator) What will you hear when you read this book to a preschool child? Lots of noise! Children will chant the rhythmic words. They'll make the sounds the animals make. And they'll pretend tobe the zoo animals featured in the book-- look at the last page! Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle are two of the most respected names in children's education and children's illustrations. This collaboration, their first since the classicBrown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? (published more than thirty years ago and still a best-seller) shows two masters at their best. ARedbook Children's Picture Book Award winner The rollicking companion toBrown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?
I Hear a Pickle by Rachel Isadora (Illustrator) Caldecott Honor winner Rachel Isadora's introduction to the five senses is perfect for the youngest children, who will recognize themselves in charming vignettes portraying a wide range of activities. Her lively art reveals the power and delight of each sense. Open your eyes and ears and explore your five fabulous senses! With our ears we hear the birds sing. With our nose we smell the stinky sneakers. With our eyes we see the words in our our book (and sometimes glasses help us see even better!). With our skin we feel the rain. And with our tongue we taste our favorite foods. Caldecott Honor winner Rachel Isadora's introduction to the five senses is perfect for the youngest children, who will recognize themselves in charming vignettes portraying a wide range of activities. Her lively art reveals the power and delight of each sense. Praise for Rachel Isadora 'A sunny, beautifully illustrated game of hide-and-seek . . . . An exuberant treat for the very young.' Booklist for Peekaboo Morning *'Readers will fall for the sociable Carmelita as she proudly learns a range of salutations . . . simply enchanting!' Kirkus Reviews, starred review of Say Hello! *'A pitch-perfect introduction to ballet.' The Horn Book, starred review of Bea at Ballet

Nature Explorers

Materials for Pre-Visit Lesson

Our Five Senses Worksheet

Materials for Post-Visit Lesson

Neat Nature Explorer Facts:

The iris and retina inside your eye doesn’t look like anyone else’s. They are unique just like your fingerprints.
There are many different types of eyes that animals use to see the world in all different ways. Chameleons can see in two directions at once because each eye can move independently. They can even look forward and backward at the same time.
The colossal squid has the largest eyes of any animal on Earth measuring nearly 11 inches across. Their eyes both face forward and act as binoculars aiding the colossal squid.
Humans can hear sounds up to 20 kHz while the greater wax moth can hear sounds up to 300 kHz!
Snakes smell with their tongues and hear from their jawbones! Their inner ears are connected to their jawbones allowing vibrations to travel from the jawbones to the ear.
Crickets hear using organs called tympanum which are located on their front legs.
Plants can sense touch and sound too. For example, a root that runs into a rock while growing down to seek water can change direction to grow around it.

Educator Guide: Nature Explorers: Nature Explorers Educator Guide

Nature Explorers

Tips to Come Prepared

Library Finds

Essential Questions

Our Educator Guide

Sora eBooks

Nature Explorers

Materials for Pre-Visit Lesson

Materials for Post-Visit Lesson

Neat Nature Explorer Facts:

Connections to Standards