Abby's+Project

**A Sweet Surprise** Introduction

For my project I picked to test peoples ability to taste while they lost the ability to see and smell. In other words, my victims were blindfolded and they had to plug their noses at certain times during the experiment. This was connected through this science class by the unit on senses. (Explain the role of sensory organs in perceiving stimuli and spending signals to the brain. Conduct simple tests to explore the capabilities of the human senses.) I was interested in this experiment because I think the way our senses are all connected is fascinating and this experiment was a way for me to be able to learn more about them. I. Hypothesis Will plugging your nose affect the ability to taste? I predict that the answer to my question will be that yes smelling food does affect the taste. I predict this because the senses of smell and taste are very well related. I do not think it will affect the taste as much as some people believe, and you will still be able to taste some strong flavors, but not the weaker flavors.

II. Materials and Methods First I will find four different people to test my experiment on. Then I will blindfold one at a time and have them test the different flavors of food. I will record my data for all four people. After I record the data I will compare whether or not my prediction was accurate. I will be able to do this by viewing if the subject could identify the flavor of the food they ate. After this I will conclude my experiment.

A blindfold, different types of food (such as skittles, salt and sugar, jellybeans, ect.) III. Results 

IV. Conclusion Therefore, I conclude that being able to smell food does help the body recognize the taste. There was only one time throughout this entire experiment that the percentage of correct answers when the nose was unplugged was lower than when the nose was plugged. I conclude that the nose and mouth are definitely connected and go hand-in-hand. I also concluded that males and females wouldn't change the results of this experiment, since I tested two males and two females. The age influence doesn't change results either. All of my victims were different ages. This helped me realize that humans bodies all taste and smell the same way. My work was valid. The only way that it wouldn't be valid is if a person looked at the color/flavor of the food, or if their nose was not plugged. Based on the results, I don't believe that this happened once. I also tested both males and females for my results at different ages to see if that had an influence on anything, and based on the results it didn't. Another way my work could be invalid was if somebody had a cold. This could cause them to not be able to smell or taste before plugging their nose, but that hadn't occurred during my experiment. My work was valid. This is my final conclusion. V. Explanation I believe these were the results for my experiment because I blocked the ability to smell for 50% of my project and based on these notes, my results were true. The nose and mouth work together in order for you to be able to taste. Acquiring information related to scent through the back of the mouth is called retronasal olfaction—via the nostrils it is called orthonasal olfaction. Both methods influence flavor; aromas such as vanilla, for example, can cause something perceived as sweet to taste sweeter. Once an odor is experienced along with a flavor, the two become associated; thus, smell influences taste and taste influences smell. Return to Home Page