Do the taste test with this fun and easy science experiment to find out which senses are important when tasting food.

You will need:

2 x Cubes of potato

2 x Cubes of apple 1 x Blindfold Make sure that the apple and the potato are the same shape and size, this is very important and you will see why!

Method:

• Eat the potato and then the apple. Make a note of how they both taste, do they taste different?
• Place your blindfold on and mix up the two reminaing pieces of apple and potato so you do not know which one is which – You may need a helper with this.
• Pinch your nose so that you are unable to smell, just as if you were about to jump into a pool!
• Eat one piece and then the other. Now how do they taste?

The Science Bit…

Did you know that your nose and mouth are connected? When you eat your taste buds are busy detecting tastes that are sour, salty, bitter and sweet, and your nose has the important job of finding other tastes through your sense of smell. By pinching your nose you are taking away your sense of smell which means that both the apple and the potato are harded to tell apart. Using a blindfold takes away your sense of sight which makes it harder again!!

Experiment more…

Get your partner to give you different foods, keep your nose pinched and your blindfold on to see if you can work out what the food is. When you are guessing, consider what other senses might help you get your answer. Or…Test your sense of smell even further by keeping your blindfold on to see if you can tell what things are just from smelling them!