Tongue Taste Experiments
Activity Outcome:
- Explore the influence the sense of taste has on snack choices.
- Perform experiments and report results.
Materials:
A solution for each tongue taste:
- #1 Sweet: 2 teaspoons sugar for every cup (8 oz.) of water. Stir until sugar dissolves.
- #2 Salt: 2 teaspoons salt for every cup of water. Stir until salt dissolves.
- #3 Tart: Lemon juice or 2 Tablespoons of vinegar and ½ cup of water.
- #4 Bitter: 1 teaspoon baking soda for every cup of water or 1 teaspoon instant coffee for every cup of water.
- A pitcher of water and paper cups
- 4 cotton swabs per student
Instructional Strategy:
1. Set up the 4 Solution-Tasting Stations—one for each taste: sweet, salty, tart and bitter.
2. Have students draw a giant U on a sheet of paper to represent their tongue. Have students find a partner. Give the class an opportunity to speculate on how many different kinds of tastes they think their tongues can recognize. Point out the 4 Solution-Tasting Stations. Explain the rotation order you want the pairs to follow. Review the directions and demonstrate how each step should be done:
3. At each station partners dip one end of a cotton swab into the solution.
Do not touch the tongue with the swab.
4. Drop the solution on different areas of the tongue until you can describe what you taste. The areas to explore are:
- Tip of the tongue
- Sides of the tongue, near the front
- Sides of the tongue, near the back of the mouth
- Back of the tongue
5. Mark your sheet to show where you tasted the solution.
When all the pairs have finished testing, help the class organize and compare results.
