ScienceMakers Toolkit Manual - The History Makers

Life Science
Activity:
Part 1: Textures
1. Select a texture board with 4-6 materials on it.
2. On a piece of paper, make a table with two columns. In the fi rst column, write the name of the material.
3. Use your fi ngers to feel the textures of each material, and in the second column, describe those textures (you
can use words like smooth, rough, bumpy, furry, soft, hard, etc.).
4. Put on a pair of gloves and touch the materials on the board again. Describe the difference.
Part 2: Temperature
1. Close your eyes and touch the two items. Aside from their texture difference, what else can you determine?
2. Put on a pair of gloves and try touching the two items again. What is the difference?
3. In addition to our sense of touch, the skin also helps regulate the body’s internal temperature. How does this
happen? Perspiration.
4. What is the major difference between sensing temperature through the sense of touch and “feeling” hot or
cold?
Part 3: Brain Box of Science
1. We will now use a box to help you isolate the sense of touch from your other senses (especially your sense
of sight and smell).
2. Explore the different items with you fi ngertips only. Can you tell what they are? Can you describe their
texture?
3. Try exploring a different set of items with gloves on. Was it easier or harder to tell what they were?
Guiding Questions:
• What physical properties of objects can you determine with your fi ngertips?
• Why do you think wearing gloves makes it harder to tell the texture and the temperature of an object?
What’s Happening?
Students use their fi ngers to discover textures and temperatures of objects. When they touch objects while
wearing gloves, the nerves on their fi ngertips are less able to interpret the signals from the object, and thus the
texture and temperature differences become less obvious to the touch.
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