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Perception: Taste, Vision and Smell
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Learn more about how fly mutations can generate anomolies in perception.


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Teacher Resources

Demos and Activities

  • Colorblindness and Perception
    Show students the following website to help them understand colorblindness and perception. Students should identify whether or not they are colorblind, then relate the ability to see color to the sensory neurons in the eye.
    http://www.toledo-bend.com/colorblind/Ishihara.html
    http://webexhibits.org/causesofcolor/2.html

  • Afterimages and vision
    For an interactive activity to help students understand the action potential and neurological processes involved in vision, see http://www.sidwell.edu/us/science/21bio/baw/after.html. Have the students complete the "afterimage" activities, and use questioning and inquiry to encourage the students to explain the phenomena without giving them the answer.

    Sample questions:

    Describe what you saw after each part of the experiment. Describe the color and duration of the afterimages.

    Why do you think you see afterimages? Think about what Dr. Zuker explained when he was describing the length of time needed for various chemical processes.

  • The Sensitivity of Touch
    To help students understand the sense of touch, Berkeley's WISE program has developed an extensive library of activities. Many of the activities are repetitive and geared towards middle-school students, but some are great for all levels. Mechanoreceptor density trials are a good laboratory to introduce the idea of sensitivity needs in different areas of the body.
    http://wise.berkeley.edu/teacher/projects/lessonPlan.php?id=7376&activity=1

  • Enrichment
    Read the article on this website: http://www.defensetech.org/archives/001256.html. Imagine that you are a member of a research team that wishes to win a Navy contract for developing the ampullae of Lorenzini for humans. Write a report detailing how your team will identify the molecule responsible for the electroreceptory response. Be sure to include details of how electroreceptors function, and what types of experiments you will need to conduct to uncover the specific electroreceptor molecule.

    For more information about this sensory ability, visit: http://umbc7.umbc.edu/~cole/electro.htm.

California State Standards

Grades 9-12

    Biology: Cell Biology

    1. The fundamental life processes of plants and animals depend on a variety of chemical reactions that occur in specialized areas of the organism's cells. As a basis for understanding this concept:

      a. Students know cells are enclosed within semipermeable membranes that regulate their interaction with their surroundings.

    Biology: Genetics

    2. Mutation and sexual reproduction lead to genetic variation in a population. As a basis for understanding this concept:

      e. Students know why approximately half of an individual's DNA sequence comes from each parent.

    Biology: Physiology

    9. As a result of the coordinated structures and functions of organ systems, the internal environment of the human body remains relatively stable (homeostatic) despite changes in the outside environment. As a basis for understanding this concept:

      d. Students know the functions of the nervous system and the role of neurons in transmitting electrochemical impulses.
      e. Students know the roles of sensory neurons, interneurons, and motor neurons in sensation, thought, and response.

    Investigation and Experimentation

    1. Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful investigations. As a basis for understanding this concept and addressing the content in the other four strands, students should develop their own questions and perform investigations. Students will:

      d. Formulate explanations by using logic and evidence.
      k. Recognize the cumulative nature of scientific evidence.
      l. Analyze situations and solve problems that require combining and applying concepts from more than one area of science.

National Research Council Standards

UNIFYING CONCEPTS AND PROCESSES

  • SYSTEMS, ORDER, AND ORGANIZATION: The natural and designed world is complex; it is too large and complicated to investigate and comprehend all at once. Scientists and students learn to define small portions for the convenience of investigation. The units of investigation can be referred to as "systems." A system is an organized group of related objects or components that form a whole. Systems can consist, for example, of organisms, machines, fundamental particles, galaxies, ideas, numbers, transportation, and education. Systems have boundaries, components, resources flow (input and output), and feedback.

  • FORM AND FUNCTION: Form and function are complementary aspects of objects, organisms, and systems in the natural and designed world. The form or shape of an object or system is frequently related to use, operation, or function. Function frequently relies on form. Understanding of form and function applies to different levels of organization. Students should be able to explain function by referring to form and explain form by referring to function.
UNDERSTANDINGS ABOUT SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY
  • Scientists usually inquire about how physical, living, or designed systems function. Conceptual principles and knowledge guide scientific inquiries. Historical and current scientific knowledge influence the design and interpretation of investigations and the evaluation of proposed explanations made by other scientists.

  • Scientists conduct investigations for a wide variety of reasons. For example, they may wish to discover new aspects of the natural world, explain recently observed phenomena, or test the conclusions of prior investigations or the predictions of current theories.

  • Scientists rely on technology to enhance the gathering and manipulation of data. New techniques and tools provide new evidence to guide inquiry and new methods to gather data, thereby contributing to the advance of science. The accuracy and precision of the data, and therefore the quality of the exploration, depends on the technology used.

  • Scientific explanations must adhere to criteria such as: a proposed explanation must be logically consistent; it must abide by the rules of evidence; it must be open to questions and possible modification; and it must be based on historical and current scientific knowledge.

  • Results of scientific inquiry--new knowledge and methods--emerge from different types of investigations and public communication among scientists. In communicating and defending the results of scientific inquiry, arguments must be logical and demonstrate connections between natural phenomena, investigations, and the historical body of scientific knowledge. In addition, the methods and procedures that scientists used to obtain evidence must be clearly reported to enhance opportunities for further investigation.
MATTER, ENERGY, AND ORGANIZATION IN LIVING SYSTEMS
  • The complexity and organization of organisms accommodates the need for obtaining, transforming, transporting, releasing, and eliminating the matter and energy used to sustain the organism.
THE BEHAVIOR OF ORGANISMS
  • Multicellular animals have nervous systems that generate behavior. Nervous systems are formed from specialized cells that conduct signals rapidly through the long cell extensions that make up nerves. The nerve cells communicate with each other by secreting specific excitatory and inhibitory molecules. In sense organs, specialized cells detect light, sound, and specific chemicals and enable animals to monitor what is going on in the world around them.

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