What is this…?

Hey presto!

Perception

“awareness of things through our 5 senses”

Let’s use our senses!• Sight, touch, hearing,

taste, smell.• For each “station”, write

down what it is you think you are seeing, touching, hearing, tasting and smelling and rate your confidence from 0 (I have no idea) to 5 (I am certain).

Let’s use our senses!• In groups discuss your

answers and confidence levels

• Are you more certain about some senses than others?

• Which are your dominant senses?

Answers!

• Sight• Touch• Hearing• Taste• Smell

Choose a sense to lose!

Choose a sense to lose!

• Which sense did you choose? Why?• Which sense is most identified with

knowledge? Why?

Who am I?Who am I?

I am Helen Keller. I was born deaf and

blind in 1880. Despite this I

became a famous author and

political activist. I was the first

deafblind person to earn a

bachelor’s degree

I am Helen Keller. I was born deaf and

blind in 1880. Despite this I

became a famous author and

political activist. I was the first

deafblind person to earn a

bachelor’s degree

How would you learn without some senses?

• Lauren• http://vimeo.com/4218099• http://vimeo.com/4218099

Extension of the senses

Electromagnetic spectrum

λ ≈ 700 - 420 nm

λ ≈ 10-7 - 10-8 m

λ ≈ 10-9 - 10-11 m

λ ≈ 10-12 - 10-14 m

λ ≈ 10-4 - 10-6 m

λ ≈ 10-2 - 10-3 m

λ ≈ 10-1 - 103 m

Ultrasound

What is really out there?

What is really out there?

• Does the “sweetness” exist in the coke or only in your brain?

What is really out there?

Where is the green in the grass? In the grass or in your brain?

If we had evolved differently, sensitive to electromagnetic radiation of different frequencies we would not see grass as green at all…….in conclusion the world really has no colour at all!

What really is out there?

If a tree falls in a forest, and nobody is there to hear it, does it make a sound?

Two types of sound?

• Physical – vibrations in the air• Experienced – the sound we hear/experience

in our brains

No experienced sound before life on earth?