Elizabeth Brito

Tongue Twister
Relevant SOLs
K.2 The student will investigate and understand that humans have senses that allow them to seek, find, take in, and react or respond to information in order to learn about their surroundings. Key concepts include a) the five senses and corresponding sensing organs; and b) sensory descriptors used to describe common objects and phenomena.

Materials

Blue Food Dye Cotton Swabs Mouth poster with corresponding magnetic labels Mirror Radish Salt Sour Gummy Worms Small Plates to Place Tasting Items Sugar

Engage: Looking at Taste Buds

Engage students in a brief discussion about what they already know about the tongue and the sense of taste. This discussion can relate to humans or other living things, so long as the topic is about taste. Next, using a cotton swab, have students apply blue food dye to their tongue. While passing around a mirror, have students write what they observe about their tongue/taste buds. Students will then engage in a brief discussion about their observations and what the purpose might be of what they observed.

Explore: Tasting
1) Students will each be given a plate containing: radish, salt, sour gummy worms, and sugar. These items all have different types of tastes. 2) Students will be asked to make a prediction about what will happen when they taste foods with different parts of their tongue. Be sure to be specific about where on the tongue the food will be placed 3) After predicting, the student will choose one food item from the plate and taste it with the part of the tongue they decided to use in the prediction. 4) Students will then record what they noticed/observed. 5) Repeat steps two through four for the remaining items.

Explain: Parts of the Tongue

1) The teacher will pick up the mouth poster and explain that the tongue is divided into 5 sections, 4 of which are used for tasting.

2) Students will them work collaboratively to figure out, based on their exploration, which sections of the tongue were responsible for different tastes. They will be given the magnetic cards to assist them. 3) Once the students have come to a decision, the teacher will explain that the back of the tongue is where bitterness is tasted, the sides of the tongue are responsible for sour tastes, and the tip of the tongue is used for tasting salty and sweet. The center of the tongue does not have many taste buds and is not responsible for any of the main senses of taste. 4) This information is controversial since each taste bud can detect other flavors, it is debated as to whether or not the tongue should be looked at as detecting flavors in sections; however, it is widely believed that these areas of the tongue are the strongest centers for each taste.

Elaborate: Taste Buds Beyond the Tongue Do you think it is possible for taste buds located in one section of the tongue to receive other tastes? o All taste buds are receptors of all tastes, but they respond best to one taste. How many taste buds do you think are in the human mouth? Do you think one gender has more than another? o Humans have about 10,000 taste buds in their mouths including some on the roof of the mouth! o In general, girls tend to have more taste buds than boys Do you think taste is a strong sense? o Taste is the weakest of the five senses Many flavors come from smell. Air flowing past the olfactory neuron allows humans to sense flavors. Taste arises from the stimulation of taste receptor smells, which is different, but when the airflow is blocked (like when you have a cold), sense of taste is altered since you cannot smell flavors. How do you think this information can relate to other living creatures? Do you think all other beings only have taste buds inside their mouths?
o Fish can taste with their fins and tail as well as with their mouth. o Insects have taste organs on their feet, antennae, and mouthparts

Evaluate:
Students will be given a blank diagram of the tongue. They will be asked to label the five areas of the tongue based on the type of tastes for which they are responsible. Students will also be asked: What are all the locations of taste buds in humans? and Where are the majority of taste buds located?

Elizabeth Brito

Citations: Delwiche, J. F. (n.d.). Taste and smell. Retrieved from http://www.tastingscie nce.info/Explained/FAQ.htm (n.d.). Retrieved from http://library.thinkquest.org/3750/taste/taste.html