Key Stage 1 – Sensory Scientists

ABOUT THE UNIT
This session is aimed at Key Stage 1 pupils (Year 1 and 2 – ages 5-7)
This activity will last 1 hour or more
The purpose is for the children to become aware of the role of a sensory scientist in the food industry.
PRIOR LEARNING
It is helpful if the children have:
Learnt about the senses
Developed ideas through discussion / VOCABULARY
In this unit, children have opportunities to use words and phrases related to:
Human senses
Basic sensory words / SUGGESTED RESOURCES
Downloads
1.1 Consent letter
1.2 Tasting Checklist
1.3 Pictures of basic tastes
1.4 Food Safety rules
1.5Sensory group sheet
1.6 Tasty words
1.7 Tasty Experiments
1.8 What does it taste like?
1.9 Did we like it?
1.10 Taste Receptors on the tongue
1.11 Taste Presentation / Blu‐tac
Enough jelly babies for the class to have one each plus a few extras for the demonstration
Blindfolds
Kitchen roll
Food a Fact of Life resources

Sensory Evaluation – Teacher’s guide
Other links:

EXPECTATIONS
At the end of this unit
Most children will:be aware of the five basic senses with examples and know the parts of the body used to taste
Some children will not have made so much progress and will:be aware of some of the senses with examples when prompted.
Some children will have progressed further and will: be able to develop a varied sensory vocabulary and realise the importance of sensory science in the food industry.
SENSORY SCIENTISTS
LEARNING OBJECTIVES / POSSIBLE TEACHING ACTIVITIES / LEARNING OUTCOMES / POINTS TO NOTE
  • Understand the role of the Sensory scientist in the food industry
  • Be familiar with the senses and how we taste food
  • Develop a sensory vocabulary.
  • Understand how we taste different flavours with different parts of our tongue
  • Be aware of the safety rules involved in tasting
  • Understand how our nose also helps when tasting food.
  • Be familiar with other factors that affect our taste.
/ Introduction
  • Explain that there are different types of scientists who work in the food industry and that one of them is called a Sensory Scientist. They have a great job finding out about how things taste, smell, look and feel and whether customers, would like to eat the food created.
  • Today you are going to see if you can use your senses especially your sense of taste and smell.
  • What part of our body do we taste with? The tongue is only partly true because we need our nose to help too.
  • There are five basic tastes – one is ‘sweet’ can you name the others? Salty / bitter/ sour / umami
  • Stick up the taste pictures as they name them and thenexplain the ones they don’t name.
(Resource 1.3 – Basic Tastes; Resource 1.10 Taste Receptors on the Tongue)
Activity 1
  • Explain that the children are going to work in groups to find out how good their tongues are at tasting; they need to taste the things on their tables and try to decide which food is which taste. They only have sweet, sour, bitterand salty. When they have decided they need to write the name of the food on the sheet to match the type of taste. Give an example and tell them the pots are labelled so that they can copy the words.
  • Read the safety rules chart and explain that they don’t have to taste anything if they don’t want to but it would be useful if they had a go as there is nothing to hurt them. (Resource 1.4; 1.5 and 1.6)
  • As the groups to complete their sheet, get them to then try mixing tastes together
1. Salt and sugar – what does it taste like?
2. Lemon and water. Taste, then add sugar to it.
Taste again. Which tasted nicer?
3. Sugar and vanilla. Taste. What is the
difference when the sugar is added?
(Resource 1.7 – Tasty Experiments)
(Resource 1.8 – What does it taste like?)
(Resource1.9 – Did we like it?)
Mini Plenary
  • When finished come back together as a class and for each group to bring their sheets. Go through their findings
  • Talk about the role of the Food Technologists in creating new recipes and foods which mix different tastes and flavours together and the role of the Sensory Scientists in testing it out on the public to see if they like it.
Activity 2 – Tasting
  • This is the part where we test the job the nose has in tasting flavours. Have two pupils to help you who like to eat sweets!
  • Blind fold one of them and tell them you are giving them a jelly baby but they must hold their nose while eating it and tell you what flavour it is. If done correctly, they shouldn’t be able to tell you because the nose needs to function to be able to work out the flavour.
  • Now in pairs. One must shut their eyes (they mustn’t cheat or it won’t work!) and hold their nose while the other feeds them a jellybaby. Can they tell the flavour?
  • Swap over.
  • When finished bring the children back together.
Activity 3
  • What else do we need to be able to taste? Saliva! For the food to have taste, molecules in the food must first dissolve in saliva. If there is no saliva you shouldn’t be able to taste anything.
  • How could we test whether this is true? Ask for ideas, and if they think they would work or not.
  • If none suggest drying the tongue, tell them that’s what they’re going to do.
  • Ask them to go back to their group tables where they will find a piece ofkitchen roll to dry their tongues and ask them to try the salt or the sugar (make sure they use clean spoons). Can they taste it?
  • When finished bring the class back together.
Plenary
  • What have they learned today about how we taste our food? (Tongue, taste buds, nose and saliva) Recap if they miss anything out.
  • What have they learned about the job Food and Sensory Scientists do?
/
  • Be able to say what a sensory scientist does.
  • Be able to name the five basic senses with examples
  • Know the parts of the body used to taste.
/ Suggested Resources:
1.1Consent letter
1.2Tasting Checklist
(If/when they start to name flavours rather than tastes explain that it is the nose that helps you to ‘taste’ flavours and that they are going to test whether that is true in a little while.)

Curriculum Links: