Hobbies And Interests
Blind Taste Test
One project involves the ability to tell the difference between different types of cola. Sixth graders can perform a taste test using different brands of cola. Fill several 200-millileter cups, which are labeled for the tester, but so the taster cannot see the brand name. One cup of water is also set aside so that the mouth can be "reset" before and after each taste. The students taste the soda and, at the end, find out if they correctly guessed which soda was which. This demonstrates that tastes can not always be differentiated without sight of what is being tasted.
Blind Smell Test
This experiment is a way for sixth graders at science fairs to guess the taste of food without the ability to smell. Blindfold students and have them hold their noses. Use three to five different foods and have each student sample them. Use a glass of water between tastings to get an accurate result. This demonstrates a decreased ability to differentiate foods without the sense of smell.
Tongue Test
This experiment uses cotton swabs and five liquids that taste either salty, bitter, spicy, sweet or sour. Make the solutions by mixing sugar with water in one cup, salt with water in another, coffee for the bitter solution, hot sauce with water for the spicy one, and mix some lemon juice with water to get the sour solution. Blindfold the students and, with just a dab on the cotton swab, apply it to different parts of the tongue. This experiment shows that different parts of the tongue respond differently to different tastes.
Tongue Trick
For this experiment, sixth graders need a strong stomach and good sense of taste. Prepare several plates of food that have different ingredients mixed together. For example, mix marshmallows and vinegar or eggs sprinkled with coffee. Blindfolded students taste the food. This demonstrates the ability of the tongue to simultaneously taste differences.