The Skin You’re In

Health Science
Time 30 minutes
Age 7-10
Group Size Less than 10
Tags Ice, Senses, Touch,   more...
Water

Do we feel touch, hot, cold, pain and pressure the same everywhere on our bodies?

Children’s bodies are undergoing constant change. By getting to know their own bodies better, these changes can be less mysterious. Children who are in tune with their own bodies can use all of their senses as tools as they explore and try to understand the world around them. This activity helps children learn more about their sense of touch.

Preparation

At least 1 day ahead of time, fill enough ice cube trays with water so there are at least 2 ice cubes per pair of students. Stretch a piece of plastic wrap across the ice cube trays and poke a toothpick into each cube compartment. Place the trays in a freezer. When they are frozen, the cubes will have little “handles” made by the toothpicks, which will make it easier for kids to hold the ice cubes for longer periods of time.

The Skin You’re In
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Suggested Materials

  • Ice cube trays
  • Toothpicks
  • Plastic wrap
  • Water

Optional Materials

  • Stopwatches, or a watch/clock with a second hand
1

Make it Matter

Opening Discussion

Ask your students what sorts of things their skin can sense. Make a list on a piece of chart paper or a blackboard. Highlight touch, hot, cold, pain and pressure (if any of those are missing, try to lead them to it by asking questions about different sensations they’ve felt. Example:  If “hot” is missing, ask them what it feels like to touch something that has been sitting in the sun for a long time). Tell your students that they’ll be testing their skin for how well it can feel some of these sensations.

The Challenge

Can you test what parts of your skin sense cold best? How about the parts that sense pain best?

2

Make it Happen

Doing the Activity

  1. Divide your students into teams of 2.
  2. One person in each team will be the “Tester”, and the other will be the “Senser”.
  3. The Tester should touch an ice cube to the Senser’s fingertips for 1 second. On a piece of paper, write down what body part was tested (fingertips), and whether the Senser felt the cold a lot, a little or not at all.
  4. Try some other parts of the body and write down the parts that were tested and how strongly the cold was felt. The Senser should choose which parts of his or her body are tested.
  5. Switch roles so that every child has a chance to try the activity.
3

Make it Click

Let’s Talk About It

After every child has tested their skin, stop your students and bring them together to share their observations with each other. Did anything surprise them? What parts of their bodies felt the cold best? What parts felt it the least? This discussion should last no more than a few minutes.

4

Make it Better

Build On What They Talked About

Ask your students to now test their pain sensors. Repeat the experiment used to test cold, but this time have one child touch the ice cube to their partner’s skin and hold the cube there. The Tester should either use a stopwatch or count out loud (1 alligator…2 alligator…etc.) until the Senser says that the ice cube feels uncomfortable on his or her skin. Have them record on paper the part of the body tested and how long it took until the cold felt uncomfortable. Try different parts of the body and then switch roles.

Suggestions

  • If you choose to have a discussion with your students about why different parts of our body sense things differently, you can tell them that our skin is made up of sensors called “receptors” that sense touch, heat, cold, pain and pressure. These sensors are distributed differently across the body—some areas of our skin have more and some have less.
  • Try mapping the heat sensors with a piece of metal (not sharp!) heated up in the sun.
  • Have your students design an experiment to test their pressure and touch sensors as well.
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