Grade 4 · Science · Unit 5 of 8
Sense & Respond
How living things react
What your child practises
How people, animals and plants sense and respond to their environment: the nervous system, reflexes, special animal senses and plant responses to light, gravity and touch.
Alberta Curriculum learning outcome: 4LS1.1, 4LS1.2 · the external structures and sensory organs of organisms and what they do
Sample questions
A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.
Question 1
The school bell rings. Put the steps of your response in order.
- 👂Your ears sense the sound
- ⚡Nerves carry a message to your brain
- 🧠Your brain decides what to do
- 🏃Your muscles move you to line up
Show answer
Your ears sense the sound → Nerves carry a message to your brain → Your brain decides what to do → Your muscles move you to line up
Hint: Your senses notice first. Nerves carry the message to your brain, your brain decides, then your muscles move.
Question 2
Some snakes, like rattlesnakes, can find a mouse in the dark. What do they sense?
🐍- 🌙moonlight on the mouse
- 🎨the mouse's colours
- 🔊echoes from their calls
- 🔥the mouse's body heat
Show answer
🔥 the mouse's body heat
Hint: Rattlesnakes have special pits on their faces that sense heat from warm animals.
Question 3
On a hot day, your body sweats. How does sweating help you?
🥵- It makes you grow taller
- It cools you down
- It helps you hear better
- It warms you up
Show answer
It cools you down
Hint: When sweat dries on your skin, it carries heat away. That's your body responding to heat!
Question 4
Who is responding: a plant or an animal? Tap an item, then tap its basket.
Sort into: 🪴 plant · 🐾 animal
- 🐈cat's pupils shrink in bright light
- 🦇bat hibernates in a cave
- ❄️snowshoe hare's fur turns white
- 🍂tree drops its leaves in autumn
- 🪟stem bends toward a sunny window
- 🪰flytrap snaps shut when touched
Show answer
🪴 plant: tree drops its leaves in autumn, stem bends toward a sunny window, flytrap snaps shut when touched · 🐾 animal: cat's pupils shrink in bright light, bat hibernates in a cave, snowshoe hare's fur turns white
Hint: Plants respond slowly, by growing, bending or dropping leaves. Animals can move their whole bodies, change their fur, or sleep through winter.
Question 5
Many trees drop their leaves in autumn. What are they responding to?
🍂- Shorter days and colder weather
- Birds singing in the branches
- People raking the yard
- Longer, warmer days
Show answer
Shorter days and colder weather
Hint: When days get shorter and colder, many trees drop their leaves to save water and energy for winter.
Question 6
Which sense organ helps you notice smoke from a campfire?
- 👂ears
- 👃nose
- ✋skin
- 👅tongue
Show answer
👃 nose
Hint: Tiny particles of smoke float into your nose, and your nose senses the smell.