My students have some extra time at the end of their “term” at the school where I teach so I’ve been doing a “smells” segment in my lessons. I teach them how to say “It smells good” and “It smells bad”. Then we smell an assortment of aromas that I have captured inside plastic bottles. It is a blind test and they really like smelling things and freaking out based on what they smell.
One thing I’ve noticed that is interesting is that when the first student smells a bottle that has yet to be smelled by the group, their reaction will largely determine the reaction of the group – even if it is unusual. For example, in one bottle I have some vanilla extract. Most students say “It smells good”, but occasionally a student will (for whatever reason) say “It smells bad”. Then the next student will smell the same bottle and usually say whatever the other student said.
Maybe it is just kids trying to fit in, but to me it has a little bit of cultural context – the Japanese idea of being one with the group runs strong even at this age. It would be fun to change the bottles around and do it again in a different order and see if their opinions are the same.
