Discuss and write
Jhoolan’s mouth started watering when she heard the word imli. When does your mouth water? List five things you like to eat and describe their taste.
Do you like only one kind of taste or different ones? Why?
Jhoolan put a few drops of lemon juice in Jhumpa’s mouth. Do you think we can make out the taste with just a few drops?
w If someone were to put a few seeds of saunf (aniseed) on your tongue, would you be able to tell with your eyes closed? How?
How did Jhumpa make out the fried fish? Can you guess the names of certain things only by their smell, without seeing or tasting them? What are these things?
Has anyone ever told you to hold your nose before taking a medicine? Why do you think they tell you to do this?
Close your eyes and tell
Collect a few food items having different kinds of taste. Play a game with your friends like Jhumpa and Jhoolan did. Tell your friend to taste the food and ask–
How did it taste? What was the food item?
On which part of the tongue could you get the most taste – in front, at the back, on the left or right side of the tongue?
Which taste could be made out on which part of the tongue? Mark these parts on the picture given.
One at a time put some things to eat in other parts of your mouth – under the tongue, on the lips, on the roof of the mouth. Did you get any taste there?
Use a clean cloth to wipe the front part of your tongue so that it is dry. Put some sugar or jaggery there. Could you taste anything? Why did this happen?
Stand in front of a mirror and look closely at your tongue. How does the surface look? Can you see any tiny bumps on the surface?
Tell
If someone asks you to describe the taste of amla or cucumber, you might find it difficult to explain.
How would you describe the taste of these – tomato, onion, saunf, garlic.
Think of words that you know or make up your own words to describe the taste.
When Jhumpa tasted some of the things, she said “Sssee, sssee, sssee…”
What do you think she may have eaten?
Why don’t you make sounds that describe some tastes?
From your expressions and sounds ask your friends to guess what you might have eaten.
Chew it or chew it well: What’s the difference?
Try this together in class:
Each of you take a piece of bread or roti or some cooked rice.
Put it in your mouth, chew three to four times and swallow it.
Did the taste change as you chewed it?
Now take another piece or some rice and chew it thirty to thirty-two times.
Was there any change in the taste after chewing so many times?
Discuss
Has anyone at home told you to eat slowly and to chew well so that the food digests properly? Why do you think they say this?
Imagine you are eating something hard like a green guava. What kinds of changes take place in it–from the time you bite a piece and put it in your mouth to when you swallow it?
Think what does the saliva in our mouth do?
Discuss
How do you feel when you are very hungry? How would you describe it? For example, sometimes we jokingly say, “I am so hungry I could eat an elephant!”
How do you come to know that you are hungry?
Think what would happen if you do not eat anything for two days?
Would you be able to manage without drinking water for two days? Where do you think the water that we drink goes?
Talk and discuss
Do you remember that in Class IV you made a solution of sugar and salt? Nitu’s father also made this and gave her. Why do you think this is given to someone who has vomiting and loose motions?
Have you heard the word ‘glucose’, or seen it written anywhere? Where?
Have you ever tasted glucose? How does it taste? Tell your friends.
Have you or anyone in your family been given a glucose drip? When and why? Tell the class about it.
Nitu’s teacher used to tell the girls to have glucose while playing hockey. Why do you think she did this?
Look at Nitu’s picture and describe what is happening. How is the glucose drip being given?
Think and discuss
Imagine if you had been in place of Dr. Beaumont, what experiments would you have done to find out the secrets of our stomach? Write about your experiments.
Discuss
Why do you think Rashmi could eat only one roti in the whole day?
Do you think Kailash would like games and sports?
What do you understand by ‘proper’ food?
Why do you think that the food of Rashmi and Kailash was not proper?
Find out
Talk with your grandparents or elderly people and find out what they ate and what work they did when they were of your age.
Now think about yourself – your daily activities and daily diet.
Are these similar or different from what your grandparents did and ate?
Think and discuss
Do you know any child who does not get enough to eat in the whole day? What are the reasons?
Why do you think people suffer from starvation?
What kind of health problems occur when we do not get enough food for a very long time?
Where do the grains from the field go after reaching the mandis?
Have you come across any news related to huge spoilage in mandis or godowns? Collect some news of food spoilage or wastage on a large scale in mandis or godowns
Read the news and find out the reasons of spoilage of grains. How can such incidents be checked?
