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ACTIVITY 3 . 1 0 .

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Now do a second set of trials in the same way, but with the subject holding their
nose each time, as well as shutting their eyes.
Is there any difference between your sense of the four tastes with your nose open
and shut? ( In the basic tastes, no; but the lemon j uice and instant coffee solution
have flavour as well as basic sour and bitter tastes, and these flavours should be
detectable. If they have not been noticed, some re-testing would be useful to make
the point.)
Now suck a small sweet with a strong flavour ( peppermint is good) . As you suck
it, hold your nose for a few seconds, then let it go again.
What difference does holding your nose make ? (When the nostrils are closed the
flavour of the sweet [e.g. peppermint] cannot be detected, though the basic taste
[sweet] can.)

When this happens naturally, for example when the nose is blocked because of a
head-cold, it is often said that food seems tasteless. More accurately, it is flavourless:
the basic four tastes can still be distinguished, but the flavours which make food
enjoyable cannot. This shows clearly how both taste and smell are involved in our
overall sense of 'taste'.

This activity can easily be extended by trying to identify a variety of raw fruit and
vegetables, chewing small pieces with the eyes shut.

Touch
'Sense of touch' is a collective term for the response of the skin to three different
kinds of stimulus: change in temperature ( Activity 3 . 1 0.7), contact with solid objects
( Activity 3 . 1 0. 8 ) and pressure, each of which is detected by different sense-organs.
The response of the skin to temperature is a particularly clear example of a more
general trend which is encountered in other kinds of response: that we detect and
respond to changes in our environment rather than measuring them in any absolute
way as a thermometer does. Investigating the response of the skin to temperature not
only demonstrates our positive ability to detect change: it also makes the equal ly
important point that without a thermometer we can never make an accurate esti
mate of the temperature of our surroundings.

Activity 3 . 1 0.7

Detecting changes in temperature

Equipment: Three plastic basins, large enough to put a hand in; thermometer; supply ofhot water;
ice cubes for cooling water if necessary.
Safety note: At no time during this activity should children experience any discom
fort. The water temperatures suggested should ensure this; but in no case should
children put their hands into water above 45C.
Set out three basins in a row. Each needs to be filled with enough water to put all
the fingers and thumb of one hand in without overflowing. By mixing and stirring
tap-water with hot water ( and ice cubes if necessary) , adjust the water tempera
tures in the three basins: left-hand basin: 40C; middle basin: 25C; right-hand
basin: 1 5C.

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