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SIGHT | TOUCH | SMELL | HEARING | TASTE | AFTERTASTE | REPORTS


The English verb TOUCH, meaning “make deliberate physical contact with,” comes from the Old French *tochier, but before that from Vulgar Latin *toccare. Source: https://www.etymonline.com

What can our fingers (or other body surfaces, e.g., palm, cheek) tell us about food?

At TASIS, science students have offered a number of answers to this question and their answers have been converted to a series of questions for use in touch-dependent food investigations…

  1. Identification: What is it? (e.g., It is an apple.)
  2. What tangible texture(s) are present? (e.g., furry, smooth, bumpy, etc.)
  3. What tangible shape(s) are present? (Use two hands!)
  4. What is the mass of it? (Use your hand as a balance/scale!)
  5. What tangible state(s) of matter are present? (e.g., solid? liquid? airy? solid-liquid combination?)
  6. What is it’s temperature? (e.g., hot, warm, lukewarm, cool, cold, freezing, etc.)
  7. What tangible consistencies are present? (e.g., runny, grainy, gritty, greasy, sticky, fibrous, stringy, etc.)

Can you think of other food-related questions that can be answered by touch?

Some ‘touchy’ resources for students…


Last updated: September 2019