(3208) Noses, Do They Have 'Taste'
Maimoona Altaf
James Strath

Abstract


My name is Maimoona Altaf. I have decided to do my science project on physical science. I always have had curiosity for almost everything in this universe and if I get the chance to solve one of my curiosities myself in a science fair is a great and fascinating opportunity. Hopefully you will enjoy my project and feel it is worthy of being in this science fair.

I had noticed that in the chilly winters I get my nose plugged with a gigantic cold. My colds come around every winter and every winter I wonder why my foods taste so dull. I knew very vaguely that I couldn t taste some foods well because my nose was plugged and that without your nose you could not taste as well. How that was, I did not know. Somehow your nose can also taste. When I heard that I quickly thought it was absurd, the nose smells not tastes it is a fair assumption, but I found that my assumption was incorrect. I wanted to find out, when I do have colds, what I should eat so I can taste and not feel like I am eating stale foods every time because I ll tell you I am a great fan of eating and trying different tastes.

So, for my experiment, what I did was take different food with different tastes. My samples were varied in strong tastes, complicated tastes with lots of ingredients, and simple tastes. I tried to make most of the foods close to the same texture. I chose to pick the samples, salted water for the salty food, soured water for sour taste, hot sauce for the spicy taste, ketchup for complicated food, mustard for a bitter strong taste, peanut butter and maple syrup for a sweet taste. I placed all in separate containers. Then I made my volunteers try each samples. First with their nose plugs and then with the nose unplugged so I can see which food will be good to eat with a plugged nose. I had 5 people to test my samples. While doing so, I recorded in 2 charts what I found in the results. 1 with a plug nose and in the other chart I recorded the results without a plugged nose. What happened in these results? You will have to accept my project to be in this exceptional opportunity to find out!