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Fun Science For Kids, Test your Body
The Human Body
From the moment we are born we begin learning about our body, we learn to breath to keep us alive, we learn to eat for the first time outside of the womb, we learn that we can hear noises and see all around ourselves, and we learn that crying is a way to communicate with the people around us.
As we get a little older, we learn that we can pick things up with our hands and hold them, our sounds gradually turn into words and we learn that food has different textures and tastes.
We soon learn to stand up and then to walk and that the strange sensations felt down below mean that we need the toilet.
We learn that our body is always changing, from birth through puberty into old age and everything in between and sadly, at the end we all learn what death is.
5 Fun Experiments with your Body
1) Can you tickle yourself?
2) Invisible Ball
3) Dead Hand
4) Looking up
5) Taste test
The Tickle Test
Can you Tickle Yourself?
In this first experiment, we discover if it is possible to tickle yourself.
It is a strange sensation to be tickled by someone especially when you are least expecting it. Your body gives an instant reaction twitching and squirming as your brain warns you to get away.
Even without the element of surprise, when someone tickles you, you wriggle around laugh or scream and try to escape their touch, which all ads to the fun of the game.
What happens when you try to tickle yourself?
Try tickling your own feet, under your arms or your tummy and note the difference, it just does not work as good, the sensation is not the same as when someone else tickles you.
When someone else tickles you, your brain sets off a panic alarm as a form of protection, your body reacts to the touch by trying to get away, twitching and writhing around is a natural defence mechanism inside your body.
When you try to tickle yourself, the brain knows exactly what you are doing so it does not send out the panic alarm to your body.
Can you tickle yourself?
Actually you can, there is only one part of your body that you can tickle and get the same reaction you would get if someone else tickled you there, put your finger to the back of your mouth and tickle the roof of your mouth. It is the same place where your gag reflex comes from when you put something too far into your mouth.
Can you tickle yourself?
The only place it is possible to tickle yourself is on the roof of your own mouth.
Where is the Ball?
Invisible Ball Experiment
This is a fun experiment to try with a friend.
Both of you stand face to face, with your elbows at your side and your lower arm and hands held out toward each other.
One of you put your hands over the others hands, (picture on right), then the person who's hands are on the inside pushes the other persons hands away as the persons who's hands are on the outside pushes the others back.
Hold for around 30 seconds and then the person whos hands are on the outside should remove their hands.
The person who's hands were on the inside will have the strange sensation that they are holding a ball.
When you are pushing, your partners hands away your muscles are tightening, when your partner takes their hand away the muscles take a few seconds to relax, leaving you with the feeling that you are holding a ball between your hands.
Dead Hand Experiment
Dead Hand Experiment
For the dead hand experiment, you will need a partner to help you, give each other a High 5 and keep you hands together, now with your other hand reach over and tickle the other person’s hand.
Can you explain the strange feeling?
When you reach over to tickle your partner’s hand, you are tricking your brain into believing that you are going to touch the palm of your own hand, when you actually touch your partner’s hand it takes a few moments for your brain to catch up and you get the strangest feeling that you are touching a dead hand.
What are you Looking at?
Things are looking Up
This is a fun experiment to try when you are waiting in a line or with a group of friends inside or outside this experiment is sure to give you a secret giggle.
When standing in a line or even in a room with a group of people, pick out a spot in the sky or on the ceiling and stare at it. After a few seconds scan the people around the room and note how many of them are looking at the same spot you were looking at a few seconds before.
Curiosity when a group of people notice someone looking intently at something they have to know what it is and look to see what that individual was looking at afraid that they were missing out on something important.
We all have foods that we like to eat and foods that we really do not like, different people have different tastes, some people love to eat a plate of liver with onions and others would not go near a plate of liver and onions with a barge pole.
Hold your nose and eat a mint with your mouth closed.
Can you taste the mint?
Your sense of smell plays an important role when it comes to taste; if you block the smell of the food then you also block the taste of the food.
Eating with your mouth closed and holding your nose does not allow the air to circulate in your mouth therefore with no smell there is no taste.
A good tip if your parents are trying to force you to eat something you don't like the taste of.