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Versions of our curriculum dated before September 2014 include a Taste Experiment based on an outdated view of how taste buds are arranged on our tongue. We have changed this activity to show students how scientists learn what is true and what is not. It happens in fits and starts.

If you are using the online curriculum, this change will already be available to you as of September 2014. Hard copy curriculum will reflect this change by late Spring 2015.

Here is the text from the updated activity. The activity sheet remains the same.

Activity 2 - Taste Experiment

Read pages 6 and 7 of the Insides Out! book found in your human body kit. The mouth is first organ of the digestive system. The tongue is used to taste our food, and the teeth help us to swallow it. As the book suggests, watch your mouth eat a cracker. Chew with your mouth open to observe how the teeth and tongue work. On our tongue we have taste buds.

Scientists used to think different parts of the tongue sensed different tastes. The pattern they thought taste followed on the tongue is shown on the "Taste Experiment" page. Now scientists believe that different tastes can be sensed on many parts of the tongue. They also found that different parts of the tongue are less sensitive to some tastes. A great thing about science is that scientists are always learning and forming new ideas, hypotheses, about how things work. The more we learn, the more we figure out where we were right in our hypothesis and where we were wrong. Scientists learn the most exciting things when we realize we were wrong!

Follow the instructions on the "Taste Experiment" page and create your own taste map. Ask your parent which of the options you should complete.