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MY FIVE SENSES
Taste Test
Children will learn about taste and taste buds.
Lesson Objective
The children will explore their tongue and taste buds, and how they help us taste different flavors.
Science
What You'll Need
- Child-safe mirrors – 1 per child
- Salty foods – pretzels, potato chips, saltines – 5 per child
- Sweet foods – sugar cubes, gum drops, frosting – small amount per child
- Sour foods – lemons, limes, dill pickles – sliver of each per child
- Bitter foods – club soda, baking chocolate – small amount per child
- Paper plates – 1 per child
- Paper cups 3 oz. – 1 per child
- Paper towels – 1 per child
- Large chart with four sections labeled sweet, salty, sour, bitter
What To Do
- Discuss food with the children; when, how, and what part of our body we use when we eat.
- Distribute the mirrors to the children; ask them to look inside their mouth and describe what they see.
- Explain to the children that they each have a tongue and taste buds in their mouth, and discuss what they are used for (see Did You Know?).
- Give each child a paper plate with a salty item on it. Ask the children to taste the item (pretzel, chip, etc.) and to describe it. They might talk about how it looks or feels. If no one says salty, guide the conversation toward the flavor of the food.
- Show them the chart and point to the salty section; draw a picture of the item they have tasted and label it.
- Introduce the rest of the foods one at a time. Encourage the children to taste and describe each food. Add each food to the corresponding section of the chart.
- When all of the sections of the chart have been completed, ask the children if they preferred any of the flavors.
- Let each child put a smiley face in the section of the chart with his or her favorite flavor and a frown in the one liked the least.
- Discuss the chart. Compare and contrast their responses.
- Display the chart in the classroom so the children can continue to discuss the experiment and their reactions.
Resources
Home School Resources
Home educators: use these printable lesson PDFs to teach this lesson to your home schoolers. They're available in English and Spanish.
Content Provided By
Common Core State Standards Initiative – These lessons are aligned with the Common Core State Standards ("CCSS"). The CCSS provide a consistent, clear understanding of the concepts and skills children are expected to learn and guide teachers to provide their students with opportunities to gain these important skills and foundational knowledge [1]. Visit the CCSS
- There are currently no Common Core Standards for pre-k, but these lessons are aligned as closely as possible to capture the requirements and meet the goals of Common Core Standards. However, these lessons were neither reviewed or approved by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices or the Council of Chief State School Officers, which together are the owners and developers of the Common Core State Standards.
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