The NASA SCIence Files™
Sweet Smells 101
Purpose: To study how people observe by using their five senses

Materials

Procedure
  1. Ask an adult to purchase three small bags of candies with twisted ends and a pack of brown, paper lunch bags.
  2. Find people willing to conduct the investigation with you and gather the materials.
  3. Place a piece of the first type of candy (ex. tootsie rolls) in a lunch bag and mark it A. Do this for each person in your investigation.
  4. Place a piece of the second type of candy in another lunch bag and mark it B. Do this for each person in your investigation.
  5. Place a piece of the third type of candy in another lunch bag and mark it C. Do this for each person in your investigation.
    • If you have three people participating and three different types of candy, you will have nine bags.
  6. Each of the participants at a table will get bags A, B, and C. Bag A is first, then B, then C. Tell participants not to look in or open the bags!
  7. Place a blindfold over each person's eyes.
  8. Ask participants to pull out the item in bag A and observe the item by using only their sense of touch.
  9. Ask each participant to make a hypothesis as to what the item is. Take turns discussing each participant's hypothesis.
  10. Ask each participant to unwrap the item and use his sense of hearing to further hypothesize what the item is. Next, take turns sharing hypotheses.
  11. Ask the participants to smell the item, further hypothesize what the item is, and then take turns sharing hypotheses.
  12. Ask each participant to taste the item, make a final hypothesis, and describe how the object tastes.
  13. Ask the participants to take off their blindfolds.
  14. Have participants discuss how they reached their conclusions.
  15. Reveal the name of the object.
  16. Repeat steps 7-15 using the brown lunch bag marked B. Do again with bag C.
Conclusion
  1. What sense was most valuable to the investigation? Why?
  2. Which candy was easiest to identify? Why?