
Smell and Taste Connection
Easy
What happens to your sense of taste when you plug your nose? Smell and taste work together to help you identify food. Blocking one sense can make the other much harder to use.
You blindfold three or more volunteers and have them plug their noses. Then you give each person small spoonfuls of different baby foods. They try to name each flavor. After testing all the foods with noses plugged you remove the nose plug and repeat. Comparing the two rounds shows how much smell helps with tasting.
Hypothesis
The hypothesis is that if someone's nose is plugged and cannot smell, then they cannot detect food flavors as well as when they are only blindfolded.
Method & Materials
You will blindfold a volunteer, plug their nose, and give them a spoonful of baby food. Ask them what they think it is and record their response. Repeat this with all five types of baby food for three volunteers.
You will need a bandana, one jar of each type of baby food, 5+ spoons, at least 3 volunteer "tasters", nose plugs (optional), and paper and pencil.
Results
The results of this experiment showed that the volunteers were less able to identify the flavors of the baby food when their noses were plugged. The observation that stood out was that the volunteers were more likely to distinguish between a pretzel and an apple than an apple and a pear, as these foods have different, distinct textures.
Why do this project?
This science project is interesting because it demonstrates how smell affects taste and how our senses work together to create the flavor of food.
Also Consider
Variations of this experiment could include testing different types of food, such as candy or chips, or testing with different senses, such as sound or touch.
Full project details
Additional information and source material for this project are available below.Related videos
These videos explain the science behind this project and demonstrate key concepts used in the experiment.
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