Today we did the sense of smell. We started off with an activity where objects like lemon, orange, cilantro, onion, garlic, soap, plastic, foam, etc. were placed in a paper bag and students had to identify them by using their sense of smell. Students observed that smelling something started with taking a deep breath. They also noticed that some things had a stronger aroma than others. |
Did you know... |
BreathingWhen you breath in, you:
The inside of the nose is lined with a mucus membrane that produces mucus. Mucus and nose hairs capture dust, germs, and other particles to protect your lungs. Mucus is what you blow out your nose when you're sick. When it dries it becomes a booger (the top question everyone wanted to know). Sneezing is how your body gets rid of something that’s irritating your nose. |
Smelling
Nick wants to know "How does your nose trigger all the different smells?"
Sophie wants to know "How the nose and the brain work together to know what a smell is?"
Colin wants to know "How does the smell get to your brain.?"
When you smell something - the air that you breath passes by the Olfactory Epithelium, a little (1 square inch) patch of skin. Olfactory is another way of saying "something having to do with smell". Chemical molecules (odors) dissolve in the Olfactory Epithelium where Olfactory Receptors respond to particular chemicals. You have 40,000,000 of these! These receptors are replaced every 4 to 8 weeks. The information is then passed to the nerves in the Olfactory Bulb which transmits the signals to the brain via the Olfactory Tract (a bundle of nerves).
Sophie wants to know "How the nose and the brain work together to know what a smell is?"
Colin wants to know "How does the smell get to your brain.?"
When you smell something - the air that you breath passes by the Olfactory Epithelium, a little (1 square inch) patch of skin. Olfactory is another way of saying "something having to do with smell". Chemical molecules (odors) dissolve in the Olfactory Epithelium where Olfactory Receptors respond to particular chemicals. You have 40,000,000 of these! These receptors are replaced every 4 to 8 weeks. The information is then passed to the nerves in the Olfactory Bulb which transmits the signals to the brain via the Olfactory Tract (a bundle of nerves).
Here's a video that we watched that talks about how our sense of smell works: | Here's a video (that we did not watch) that talks about the nose: |
How are Smell and Taste Related?
Jack S wanted to know "What makes it taste in your nose?"
Odors coming from eating and drinking are also detected by the Olfactory Epithelium. Here's a fun video that shows an experiment of how smelling and eating can affect each other.
Odors coming from eating and drinking are also detected by the Olfactory Epithelium. Here's a fun video that shows an experiment of how smelling and eating can affect each other.