Activity 8.2.1 Testing the Senses Student Response Sheet

Read the background information at each station and complete the activity. Collect data and answer questions on the sheet below.

Activity #1: Taste

1.  As your partner tests the regions of your tongue, place a plus (+) sign on the corresponding area of your taste map below if you can sense the taste. If you cannot sense it, place a minus (-) sign in the corresponding region of the map.

Sweet Bitter Salty Sour

2.  Draw a taste map below and identify the following regions: sweet, bitter, salty, and sour.

3.  Which taste is stimulated by acids? Which taste is stimulated by alkaloids?

4.  How many tastes were detected in the center of the tongue?

Activity #2: Smell

Fragrance / Nostril Fatigue Time
Clove Oil
Peppermint Oil

1.  Explain what is meant by the term olfactory fatigue or olfactory exhaustion.

2.  Could you smell the peppermint oil immediately after the diminished odor of the clove oil? What does this say about the nose’s ability to detect new or different odors?

3.  How do fatigue times of the clove oil and peppermint oil compare when sniffed in succession?

4.  When you smelled the cloves and the peppermint, did you recall any memories associated with those odors? If so, briefly describe them.

Activity #3: Hearing

Part A: Auditory Acuity

Left Ear / Right Ear
Distance at which sound is no longer heard (cm)

1.  Was the distance at which the sound could no longer be heard the same for both sides?

2.  Why might the distance vary from side to side?

3.  What could cause hearing loss in young adults?

Part B: Bone Conduction

1.  Was the sound louder, the same, or quieter on the side of the head where the tuning fork was touched compared to the side that was not touched?

2.  Based on the information provided at your station, explain why your answer to number 1 is true.

Activity #4: Touch Sensation

Touch receptors are found most densely on the tongue and fingertips. These parts of the body are used for exploration and are also hairless. The hair located on the rest of the skin acts as levers to activate the touch receptors located near the root of the hair. Touch receptors will stop sending signals to the nervous system if the touch is unchanging. This is why you are not constantly aware of your clothes touching you and prevents the brain from being flooded with useless information.

Part A: Light Touch

1.  Compare the results for the three areas. Is the number of positive responses to a light touch the same in all three areas?

Part B: Deep Touch (Pressure)

1.  Compare the results for the three areas. Are there differences in pressure sensitivity?

2.  How does the number of light touch points compare to the number of deep touch points? Why do you think this is?

Activity #5: Two-point Discrimination

Two-point discrimination is the smallest distance two stimuli can be separated and still be detected as two distinct points. The more receptors located in an area, the smaller the two-point threshold.

Location / Trial 1 / Trial 2 / Trial 3 / Average
Fingertip / mm / mm / mm / mm
Back of Neck / mm / mm / mm / mm
Mid Calf / mm / mm / mm / mm
Palm / mm / mm / mm / mm

1.  What areas had the smallest two-point threshold?

2.  What areas had the largest two-point threshold?

3.  Explain why the density of touch receptors varies throughout the body.

© 2013 Project Lead The Way, Inc.

GTT-MD Activity 8.2.1Student Response Sheet– Page 4