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Halloween Themed Senses Try It

You can complete this Try It by having a Halloween party for your troop. Download the complete meeting in this pdf.

Tongue Map

Materials Needed
cotton swabs
water
small cups or glasses
unsweetened baking cocoa
lemon juice
salt
honey
pens and paper for charting

Instructions
Ask a friend to help. One of you will be the taster and the other will be the tester. When the first person is done tasting, you can switch so both of you will get a chance to taste. Put a little bit of each substance in a cup. Mix the non-liquids with some water so that all the substances have about the same consistency. Draw a chart for recording your results. Along the left side of the paper write each of the foods you will test in a separate row. You can use unsweetened baking cocoa and water to test bitter, lemon juice to test sour, honey to test sweet, and salt water to test salty. Across the top draw three columns for each taster. Label each with the taster's name and "front," "back," and "side." Make some predictions. Do you think different places on your tongue will taste different flavors more intensely? Where on your tongue do you think each flavor will taste strongest? Will some flavors be easier or harder to taste than others? Have the tester dip a cotton swab into one of the liquids and dab it either on the front, back or side of the taster's tongue. The taster tastes the liquid, then takes a sip of water. This helps clear your tongue of the taste so it doesn't interfere with the next part of the experiment. The tester then dips a new cotton swab in the same liquid and dabs it on a different part of the taster's tongue. The taster tastes the liquid again and sips some water. Now, try it again on the third part of the taster's tongue. Once all the parts of the tongue have tasted the liquid, the taster says which part of his tongue tasted the liquid the strongest. The tester records the taster's answer on the chart. Follow the same process for each of the different liquids. Then switch who tastes and who tests and do the whole taste test again with the new taster. When all tasters have finished testing, talk about your results. Were your predictions correct? Did some of your results surprise you? Did both tasters taste the same things on the same parts of your tongues?

idea courtesy of ZOOM at PBS Kids

Taste VS. Smell

Materials Needed
small cups
cotton swabs
different foods with similar textures (i.e. ketchup, mustard, barbecue sauce, sweet and sour sauce, maple syrup)
pen and paper for charting

Instructions
Ask a friend to help. One of you will be the taster and the other the tester, but you can switch at the end so both of you will get a chance to taste. Draw a chart for recording your results. Write the name of each food you are testing in separate rows along the left side. Draw two columns for each taster. Label each column with the taster's name and "unplugged" or "plugged." Make some predictions about which foods will be easier and harder to identify. Will it be easier or harder to taste the foods with your nose plugged or unplugged? Blindfold the taster or just have her close her eyes. The tester then puts a little bit of one food on the taster's tongue with a cotton swab. The taster tries to identify which food she's tasting as well as whether it is salty, bitter, sweet or sour. The tester records the taster's answers on the chart for each food she tastes. When the taster has tried all the foods blindfolded, have her taste them each again but with her nose plugged as well. (Make sure you have her taste the foods in a different order.) Once the taster has tried each food with her nose plugged, switch who tastes and who tests and go through it all again. When you've both had a chance to taste, compare your results.

idea courtesy of ZOOM at PBS Kids

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