The human body and senses · Year 1

Our bodies have many parts, and each part has a job. We find out about the world around us with our five senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. Each sense uses a part of the body called a sense organ.

Key facts

  • Main parts of the body: head, neck, shoulders, arms, elbows, hands, chest, tummy, legs, knees and feet.
  • The five senses and their sense organs: sight – eyes; hearing – ears; smell – nose; taste – tongue; touch – skin.
  • Our tongue tastes sweet, sour, salty and bitter (and savoury) foods. Smell helps us taste too.
  • Our skin feels hot and cold, rough and smooth, soft and hard – and pain, which warns us of danger.
  • Humans need food, water and air to stay alive, and shelter to keep safe and warm.
  • People grow and change: baby → toddler → child → teenager → adult → older adult.
  • Joints such as the elbows, knees, wrists and ankles let the body bend.

Worked examples

Example 1

Label these parts of the body: head, arm, hand, leg, foot.

Answer: head at the top, arms at the sides with hands at the ends, legs at the bottom with feet at the ends

Example 2

Which sense, and which sense organ, would you use to: hear a bird sing, smell a flower, feel a cat’s soft fur?

Answer: hearing (ears), smell (nose), touch (skin)

Example 3

Put these in order, youngest first: adult, baby, teenager, child, toddler.

Answer: baby → toddler → child → teenager → adult

Other years