The senses and survival: using a sensory homunculus to stimulate an exploration of adaptation

Abstract

Twelve-to-thirteen-year-old children were shown a twodimensional sensory homunculus and asked to speculate on its scientific significance: their ideas are presented. Having established that it represents the proportions of the brain's sensory cortex receiving input from the body's surface, they were asked to choose another animal whose external appearance could be reinterpreted using the same principle. After carrying out background reading on a species of their choice, children were able to draw conclusions about the animal's requirements for survival and its adaptations. Through a process of revision and refinement, aided by small group discussions, the children drew their own ‘sensory animals’. The merits and pitfalls of the technique are considered and discussed. It is recommended as a method for encouraging children to consider the sensory adaptations shown by other species.

Keywords:

• Senses
• Adaptations
• Drawing