About This Book

Welcome to Investigating Science—The Human Body! This book is one of eight must-have resource books that support the National Science Education Standards and are designed to supple-ment and enhance your existing science curriculum. Packed with practical cross-curricular ideas and thought-provoking repro-duc-ibles, these all-new, content-specific resource books provide inter-mediate teachers with a collection of innovative and fun activities for teaching thematic science units.

Other books in the Investigating Science series:• Investigating Science—Animals• Investigating Science—Weather & Climate• Investigating Science—Plants• Investigating Science—The Earth• Investigating Science—Space• Investigating Science—Light & Sound• Investigating Science—Energy, Magnetism, & Machines

Cross-curricular thematic units found in this book:• The Five Senses• The Digestive System• The Circulatory System• The Respiratory System• Muscular and Skeletal Systems• The Nervous System• Nutrition and Fitness• Drugs, Alcohol, and Your Body

Included in this book:Investigating Science—The Human Body contains eight cross- curricular thematic units, each containing• Background information for the teacher• Easy-to-implement instructions for science experiments and proj-

ects• Student-centered activities and reproducibles• Literature links

bitter

sour

soursalty

salty

sweet�

The Five SensesGive your students a feel for the five senses with this

collection of “sense-ational” activities, experiments, and reproducibles.

Background for the Teacher

Eachofthefivesenses(sight,hearing,taste,smell,andtouch)iscontrolledbyadifferentsenseorgan.Theseorgansarethebrain’swindowstotheoutsideworld.• Sight(eyes):Visionisthesenseweusethemost.

Whenlighttravelsintotheeye,atwo-dimensionalim-ageiscastontotheretina.Thisimageisthenchangedintoaseriesofelectricalsignals.Thesesignalstravelalongtheopticnervetothebrain,wheretheyaretranslatedintothree-dimensionalimages.

• Hearing(ears):Soundwavesenteringtheearcausetheeardrumtovibrate.Thesevibrationstravelalongthestructuresoftheearcanalandareconvertedtoelectricalpulses.Thesepulsestravelalonganervecalledtheauditory nerveandareidentifiedinthebrain.

• Taste(tongue):Receptors(tastebuds)inthetonguerespondtochemicalsinfoodthathavebeendissolvedinsaliva.Theyidentifyatasteassweet,salty,sour,orbitter.

• Smell(nose):Receptorsinthenasalpassagesre-spondtochemicalsintheair.Scientiststhinktherearefourbasicsmells:fragrant,fresh,spicy,andputrid.

• Touch(skin):Theskinisthebody’slargestsenseorgan.Millionsofreceptorsintheskinrespondtoheat,cold,pressure,andpain.

Literature Selections for the Senses

The Human BodybyCharlesClayman(DorlingKinders-leyPublishing,Inc.;1995)

Human Body(Time-LifeStudentLibraryseries)(Time-Life,1999)

Senses(LookatYourBodyseries)bySteveParker(Cop-perBeechBooks,1997)

Understanding Your SensesbyRebeccaTreays(EDCPublications,1998)

Haveyourstudentseverwonderedwhytheycan’ttastefoodsverywellwhentheyhaveacold?Usethisniftyactivitytodemonstratetheconnectionbetweenthesensesofsmellandtaste.

Materials: adiagramofthetasteareasofthetongueasshownbelow;ablindfold;cottonswabs;acupofwater;avarietyofscented,powdered“foods,”suchassalt,lemon-ademix,hotcocoamix,andcinnamon

Steps: 1. Displaythediagramofthetongue.Pointouttostu-

dentsthelocationsofthedifferenttastebudareas,whichallowyoutotastedifferentfoods.

2. Blindfoldastudentvolunteer,instructinghimtoholdhisnoseandstickouthistongue.

3. Lightlydipacottonswabinwaterandthenintooneofthepowderedfoods.

�. Usethediagramtohelpyouplacethetipoftheswabontheappropriateareaofthestudent’stongue.Forexample,placethesaltonthe“salty”partofthetongue.

5. Askthestudenttoidentifythefood.Ifthestudentisunabletodothis,instructhimtoreleasehisnoseandtryagain.

6. Repeatwithdifferentstudentsanddifferentfoodpowders.

7. Explaintostudentsthatflavorsaremadeupofacombinationoftastesandsmells becausetheinsideofthenoseislinkedtoyourmouth.Thatiswhywhensomeone’snoseiscloggedduetoacold,foodseemstohavelessflavor.

c

d

Your NoseKnows!

(Demonstration)

5

In the Blind Spot(Experiment)

Withthisexperimentonfindingyourblindspot,notseeingisbelieving!Explaintostudentsthattherearenoreceptors(rodsandconesthatchangeapictureintoelectricalpulses)intheareaoftheretinawheretheopticnerveleavestheeye.Thiscausesa blind spot,anareawherenoimagecanbeseen.Next,pairstudents,giv-ingeachpairthematerialsandacopyofthestepsshownbelow.Guidestudentsincompletingtheactivity.Afterward,havestudentvolunteerssharetheirconclusions.(Students should conclude that the further to the left of the eye the blue dot was, the closer it was to the blind spot and the distance it had to be moved was less. There-fore, the blue dot eight inches from the red dot should have vanished sooner than the dots four and six inches away.)

I Smell a Memory(Creative Writing)

Explaintostudentsthatsmellscansometimesevokememo-ries.Thisisbecausethepartofthebrainthathandlessmelliscloselyconnectedtothepartthatdealswithmemory.Next,directeachstudenttorecallasignificantmemorableeventinhislifeandthescentsinvolved,suchasthesmellofaChristmastreeoraspecialmeal.Instructthestudenttowriteadescriptiveparagraphabouttheevent,includingthememorablesmells.Aftereachstudenthaswrittenhisparagraph,givehima5”x8”indexcard.Directthestudenttowritethefinalversionofhisparagraphonthefrontofthecardandillustrateitontheback.Allowstudentvolunteerstosharetheirmemorieswiththeclass.Finally,makeaclassbookofmemoriesbypunchingtwoholesontheleft-handsideofeachcard.Designacover;thenbindthecardsandcoverwithtwosilverclaspringsorpiecesofstringandtitleit“ISmellaMemory.”

Materials for each pair:three3”x12”stripsofwhitepaper,oneredandonebluecrayon,aruler,atwo-footpieceofstring,twocopiesofthetopofpage7

Steps: 1. Fillinyourhypothesisinthespaceprovidedonpage7. 2. Onthefirststripofpaper,drawareddotaboutthesizeofadimeatthe

rightedgeofthepaper.Fourinchestotheleftofthisdot,drawabluedotaboutthesamesize.

3. RepeatStep1ontheothertwostrips,drawingthebluedotsixinchestotheleftonthesecondstripandeightinchestotheleftonthethirdstrip.

�. Holdthefirstpaperaboutaninchfromyourface,positioningthereddotinfrontofyourlefteye.

5. Whilelookingstraightahead,slowlymovethepapertotheleft.Observethebluedotthroughyourperipheral (edgeofsight)vision.Continuemov-ingthepapertoyourleftuntilthebluedotvanishes.

6. Haveyourpartnerusethestringtomeasurethedistancefromyourchintothebluedotandthenmeasurethestring.Recordthedistanceon

page7. 7. RepeatSteps�–6withtheothertwostrips. 8. Tradeplaceswithyourpartner,repeatingSteps�–7. 9. Comparethedistanceofthedotsonthestripswiththedistance atwhichtheblindspotoccurs.Whatcanyouconcludebasedonthese observations?Recordyourconclusionsinthespaceprovidedonpage7.

retina

opticnerve

pupil

lense

�in.

6in.

8in.

6

I Have a Funny Feeling!(Demonstration)

Thissensoryexperimentwillhelpstudentsidentifywhichpartsofthebodyaremostrecep-tivetotouch.Explaintostudentsthatthesenseoftouchvariesthroughoutthebody,depend-ingonthenumberandtypeofreceptorslocatedinaspecificarea.Gatherthelistedmaterialsandthenfollowthestepsbelowtocompletethedemonstration.

Materials: ablindfoldandvariousobjectswithdifferenttextures,shapes,andsizes,suchasapieceoffelt,anorange,andacookedspaghettinoodle

Good Vibrations(Demonstration)

Usethestepsbelowtoguideyourstudentsthroughthisdemonstrationofhowsoundwavescausesoundvibrations.

Materials: oneplasticcup,alengthofplasticwrap,arubberband,1/2tsp.salt,aruler,aradio(ortape/CDplayer),aclasssupplyofthebottomofpage7

Steps: 1. Placetheplasticwraptightlyoverthemouthofthe

cup.Securethewrapwiththerubberband.Placethesaltontheplasticwrap,andthenshowstudentstheplacementofthesalt(seetheillustration).

2. Setthecupfourinchesawayfromtheradio. 3. Askstudentswhattheythinkwillhappentothesalt

crystalsoncetheradioisturnedon.Haveeach studentrecordhishypothesisonpage7.�.Turnontheradiotoamedium-highlevel.

5. Havestudentscomeupingroupsoffour,viewthecupateyelevel,andobservethesaltcrystals.Slowlymovethecupfartherawayuntilthecrystalsnolongermove.

6. Directeachstudenttorecordhisobservationsandconclusionatthebottomofpage7.

7. Discussthevibrationoftheplasticwrapandtheactionofthesaltcrystalsinrelationtothedistancefromtheradio.(As the cup was moved farther from the radio, the salt crystals “jumped” less.)

Steps: 1. Blindfoldastudentvolunteer. 2. Haveadifferentstudentvolunteerselectoneoftheobjectsand

thenlightlytouchtheblindfoldedstudentwiththeobjectonthecheek,hand,forearm,andfingers.

3. Instructtheblindfoldedstudenttodescribewhathefeelsateachlocation—suchastheobject’ssize,shape,andtexture—andthentrytoguesswhattheobjectis.

�. RepeatSteps1–3asdesiredwithotherstudentvolunteersandthedifferentobjects.

5. Havestudentvolunteersshareonwhichareasofthebodyitwaseasiesttoidentifytheobjects.(Students should conclude that the most sensitive areas were the hands and fingers. There is an increased number of receptors in the hands, fingers, and lips so the sense of touch is greater in these areas than in others.)

7

©2000TheEducationCenter,Inc.•Investigating Science •The Human Body•TEC1736

Name Experiment, senses

In the Blind SpotHypothesis(Whatdoyouthinkwillhappentothebluedotsaseachofthepapersismoved

awayfromyourface?):__________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Note to the teacher: Usethetopofthisreproduciblewith“IntheBlindSpot”onpage5.Usethebottomportionwith“GoodVibrations”onpage6.

©2000TheEducationCenter,Inc.•Investigating Science •The Human Body•TEC1736

Name Experiment, senses

Good Vibrations

Hypothesis (Whatdoyoupredictwillhappentothesaltcrystalsasthecupismovedawayfromtheradio?):______________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Observations (Whathappenedwhenthemusicwasturnedon?):_______________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

(Whathappenedasthecupwasmovedfartherawayfromthemusic?):___________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________Conclusion (Explainwhatyouthinkwasthecauseofthechangeinthesaltcrystalsasthecup

wasmovedfartherawayfromthemusic.):__________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Conclusion (Wasyourhypothesiscorrect?Whyorwhynot?):__________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

Distance Between Dots

_____________________________________(YourPartner’sName)

_____________________________________(YourName)

Distance FromChin

�in.

6in.

8in.

Distance Between Dots

Distance FromChin

�in.

6in.

8in.