How We Smell, Taste, and Feel

Your body has special organs that help you learn about the world around you. Three important sense organs are your nose, tongue, and skin. These organs collect information and send it to your brain so you can understand what is happening.

Your nose detects smells in the air. When you breathe in, tiny particles from things around you enter your nose. Inside your nose are special receptors—cells that can detect these particles. The receptors send messages through nerves to your brain. Your brain figures out what the smell is, like fresh cookies or flowers.

Your tongue helps you taste food. On your tongue are tiny bumps called taste buds. These taste buds can detect four main tastes: sweet, salty, sour, and bitter. When you eat something, the taste buds send messages to your brain. Your brain decides what flavor you are tasting. Think of your taste buds like tiny detectives that report what they find to the brain.

Your skin is covered with receptors that detect touch, temperature, and pain. When you touch something hot, cold, rough, or smooth, receptors in your skin send messages to your brain. Your brain tells you what you are feeling and helps you react quickly, like pulling your hand away from something too hot.

All three senses work the same way: they detect something, send a message to the brain, and the brain figures out what it means.

Interesting Fact: Your tongue can detect about 10,000 different flavors by combining the four basic tastes with smell signals from your nose!