Higher:
Explain a way to test our taste buds
Middle:
Describe the function of the taste buds and salivary glands
Lower:
State what the taste buds and salivary glands are
Higher:
Evaluate results and draw conclusions
Middle:
Carry out the test in a fair way
Lower:
Make predictions for the test
Lesson Starter: Choose a piece of fruit from this picture and describe what it tastes like.
If you haven't got fruit, maybe ask an adult for help and ask to taste something sweet and something savoury blindfold and try to describe the taste.
Presentation - Starter Slide.
Answer questions and take part in activities during the presentation.
Key Concept:
During this unit, each lesson contains a key concept question housed in the '30 Second Challenge' slide. To help children master this content so the knowledge moves from their short term memory to their long term memory, at the beginning of the follow on lesson the question from the previous lesson is revisited.
The questions covered during this unit include:
1. How does your sense of taste help to keep you safe?
2. What our teeth are used for?
3. Why do you think food needs to be broken down into smaller pieces?
4. Why the food pyramid is important?
5. Why are vitamins and minerals are important for your body?
6. What is a food chain? What are producers, consumers, and decomposers?
Presentation
Expert Film: Mike Linley is joined by dog trainer Alison Burns and canine Floss to discuss salivary glands and taste buds.
A lot of people have lost their taste and smell with covid. Find out about how doctors help people to cope with this? What sort of problems can it cause with trying to live a normal life? What does ENT stand for?
How we deliver the Gatsby Benchmarks:
2 - Learning from career and labour market information: Pop along to Developing Experts career’s zone to find out about jobs in your area.
4 - Linking curriculum learning to careers: This unit showcases careers that relate to humans. Access our 360° virtual work tours.
7 - Encounters with Further and Higher Education: Pop along to Developing Experts career’s zone to find out about training providers in your area.
Presentation - Expert Film.
Blindfold Taste Test
Watch the Lesson Assignment film.
Children to blindfold their talk partner and give partner a selection of food (sweets are good for this, can use sugar-free!)
Can children predict what the difference is if we pinch our noses or not? Would we still be able to taste sweet?
Give partner the same sweet, twice, when blindfolded. As a difference, the taster could pinch their nose to see if there is a difference the first time. The second time, the taster releases their nose. Is it easier to tell the flavour?
Blindfold Taste Test
Sweets in variety of flavours (jelly beans are good)
Blindfold
Handout
Complete the table and write-up following the taste test.
Quiz
With their talk partners, the children are to go through the quiz at the end of the presentation and answer the questions.
Handout
Quiz in presentation
Can children recall information about the taste buds and salivary glands?
Can children create a comparative and fair test which explores taste?
Can children describe different tastes?
Quizzes in pupil zone.
Unit knowledge organisers and tests available in unit documents area.
My favourite food is…
It is my favourite food because….
It tastes like…..
A taste can be described as... (bitter, salty, sweet, sour etc.)
The Science Behind the Science
Here is something that will blow your mind: salivary glands make saliva. If you’ve never heard of the word saliva, you’ve heard of the word spit. They are the same thing. You have saliva in your mouth right now. It’s the fluid that keeps your mouth and your digestive system wet and super slippery. Saliva is clear and is in your mouth all of the time. It is mainly made up of water and contains some other chemicals.
Your salivary glands are found on the inside of your cheeks, the bottom of your mouth and at the front of your mouth, under your jaw. Can you believe that they can produce between one to two litres of saliva a day? That’s crazy. There are many advantages to having saliva. Here are a few: saliva aids with digestion, it helps you to taste food, it cleans your mouth and helps to keep your teeth clean. Digestion starts as soon as you place food in your mouth. Your saliva contains many enzymes that aid with the breakdown of food. This facilitates the process of digestion and helps to protect against infections of the mouth.
Just like saliva helps you to taste food, your taste buds are responsible for making your favourite foods taste so good. They are found on your tongue and help you to distinguish between salty, sweet, sour and bitter tastes. You have lots of bumps on your tongue. The scientific word for these are papillae. These bumps contain the taste buds and all taste buds have microvilli. These are really, really small hairs. They are responsible for sending signals to your brain so that you can distinguish between the different tastes. Without your tongue and your nose, everything would be pretty tasteless.
Mission Assignment: Pick out foods that will enable you to explore all four basic tastes. That is sweet, salty, bitter and sour. As the children taste the foods, get them to categorise them into the four different taste categories.
Describe the basic functions of the main parts of the digestive system in humans.
The study of the characteristics, systems, and behaviours of humans and other animals, and of plants; the interactions and relationships between and among them, and with the environment.
Conducting a comparative and fair test.
Setting up simple practical enquiries, comparative and fair tests
Grade 5 - Human Body.
Grade 3 - Physical Science - Matter - Changes in Matter - Chemical Changes - What are the signs of a chemical change? (light and heat, formation of gas, colour change)