Lesson notes in kindergarten on cognitive activity.

How we smell different smells.

Objectives: to introduce the features of the nose, its structure;

Material:

Schematic representation of the nose;

Drawings of profiles of different nose shapes;

Containers containing various odorous substances: lemon, garlic, soap, geranium leaves;

Small mirror.

Experiments carried out in class:

Identifying objects by smell.

Determination of nasal functions.

Activation of vocabulary: nasal cavity, nasopharynx.

Progress:

Educator: - Children, guess the riddle: among the two luminaries in the middle, I am alone. Right! This is the nose. Some people believe that the nose is just an ornament on the face. Others think that our nose is needed to hold it up. There is even such an expression: “Look, you turned your nose up.” “He turns his nose up” - this is when a person is proud of something or boasts. Show me how it is! And “hanging his nose” is when someone is sad and offended. Show me how it is.

In fact, even the smallest nose is a very important part of the face: we breathe through our nose, and the nose also helps to distinguish odors.

Experience 1:

Take the cups (the container is closed, there are holes in the lid) and, without opening them, try to guess what is inside. To do this, bring the glasses closer to your nose and inhale deeply. Well, what's in your glass? (Children's answers). Now open it and check if you have identified the smell correctly.

Experience 2:

Now pinch your nose with your fingers and try to inhale the smell through your mouth. Did you smell it? No? And why? Because the nose determines the smell!

Experience 3:

Pinch your nose with your fingers and try to say: “They dropped the bear on the floor, they tore off the bear’s paw.” Tell me, was it difficult for you to speak with your nose closed? You can inhale and exhale with your mouth, but it is difficult to speak.

Educator: - Look at the picture: inside the nose there are two channels, the nasal cavity, which passes into the nasopharynx, connecting to the throat and ears. Inside the nose there are villi and mucous membranes. They clean the incoming air from dust. When air passes through the nasal passages, it warms up. And if you inhale air through your mouth, it gets cold into your throat and you can catch a cold. Your neck will hurt. In the upper part there are nerve endings that distinguish odors. When your nose is clogged with mucus during a cold, you can't smell anything and it's difficult to breathe.

Now look in the mirror, and then at each other. Do you have the same nose?

Children determine that their noses are different: straight, snub, “button”, “potato”. The teacher reads the poem “There are snub noses...”.

Educator: - Guys, why do we need a nose? How should you take care of it? And I’ll also tell you a secret that your nose definitely looks like your mother’s or father’s. At home, look in the mirror with your parents, and tomorrow tell me whose nose you have.

At the end, the game “Find the flower by smell” is played.

One child is blindfolded and asked to find the smell of geranium - the flower that has the strongest smell.

A wise wizard in a wide-brimmed hat once said: “When in doubt about something, always rely on your sense of smell.” It was good advice not only for the little hobbit, but also for you and me.

Aromatherapy also teaches you to treat your nose with respect. We know that our love (and dislike) for certain scents can say something about us; that from the whole variety of essential oils with their unique baggage of benefits you need to choose “your own”; that from 50 to 70% of the volatile molecules of essential oils enter the bloodstream through the nose.

We know that aromatherapy is not only useful, but also very pleasant. If, of course, you are able to distinguish aromas.

How we smell

It would seem like a lot! But... information for comparison: dogs have 225 million of them. Alas, people, along with monkeys, fall into the category of microsmatics - mammals whose sense of smell is poorly developed.

In 2004 Nobel Prize received by scientists who proposed a new hypothesis for odor perception. It is based on the genetic mechanism of protein coding. According to this hypothesis, not two or three neurons react to an odor molecule, recognizing a specific aroma, say, bread or violet, but a whole group - up to 1023 neurons! It is logical to assume that genetic predisposition plays a role in the ability to recognize aromas. This may be the answer to the question of why people perceive scents differently.

Let's remember the famous durian - a tropical fruit, the aroma of which causes a gag reflex in many. They say that when the British tried this particular dish in the 19th century, they compared it to eating herring with blue cheese over an open sewer manhole. And one of my friends perceived the aroma this way: a slightly rotten onion, nothing special...

Some people distinguish aromas better, some worse, some cannot smell certain substances or even smells at all (so-called anosmia). Some people like ylang-ylang, while others like pine. Moreover, it could all be the same person! Throughout life, the acuity of smell, our preferences, and even our needs at different moments in life can change. In women, the menstrual cycle leaves an imprint on perception. On different days, the same oil can cause exactly opposite reactions.

Why did my sense of smell disappear? Negative factors

In many diseases of the nasal cavity, the olfactory cells are also affected. Flu and ARVI, persistent runny nose, allergies are understandable reasons for a decreased sense of smell. But olfactory dysfunction also accompanies other ailments, such as traumatic brain injury or a deviated septum. Even an emotional state can cause a temporary change in the sense of smell.

The good news is that the receptor cells in the olfactory system are capable of recovery. So, if you suspect you have any medical problem, seek advice from an ENT specialist.

Smoking has a very bad effect on the sense of smell: novice smokers lose their sense of smell by 50-60%. So if (suddenly) you decide to smoke, then the world of magical aromas of essential oils will be half lost for you. And this is a very unfortunate loss! In experienced smokers, the function of smell is partially restored, but not 100%. Alcohol can also be detrimental, reducing your sense of smell.

Some girls notice that the ability to distinguish aromas changes depending on the menstrual cycle. On the other hand, research confirms that the female nose is more talented: the fair sex has significantly more olfactory cells, they are capable better than men recognize and classify odors (Oliveira-Pinto AV, Santos RM, Coutinho RA, Oliveira LM, Santos GB, Alho AT, Leite RE, Farfel JM, Suemoto CK, Grinberg LT, Pasqualucci CA, Jacob-Filho W, Lent R, 2014).

How to develop your sense of smell

Perhaps, it is not so easy to become a Perfumer without a genetic disposition, but you can develop your abilities. So how can you improve your sense of smell?

We will start, of course, with training with essential oils. Inhaling the complex aromas of essential oils can stimulate our receptors. Learn to distinguish notes and remember aromas. S. A. Mirgorodskaya recommends for these purposes the aromas of rose, verbena, neroli, vetiver, sage, rosemary, geranium, incense, juniper, sandalwood, myrrh and patchouli. Try to describe the aroma, think about what you associate it with, write it down. In a few months it will be interesting to compare whether there will be any changes.

Basil oil is known for its ability to restore the sense of smell after a runny nose. How to restore the sense of smell with a runny nose using inhalations: in a bowl with hot water you need to add 1 drop of basil essential oil, cover with a towel... and enjoy. The procedure time is 5-7 minutes. You can also try basil baths (don't forget to dissolve the oil in salt or polysorbate).
Another option is to make yourself a personal inhaler with basil oil and inhale the sweet aroma throughout the day.

It's not just aromatherapy that can help develop your sense of smell. Of course, multifaceted natural essential oils They are best suited for training the sense of smell, but there is also a lot to learn from modern perfumers. Perfume school students must first memorize hundreds of fragrances in order to continue their studies. For example, in one well-known school there are 500 aromas, among which only 150 are natural. One must think that such intensive training with such a huge base of aromas also contributes a lot to the development of the sense of smell. To develop your sense of smell, get used to smelling everything. Not only essential oils and apples in the store, but also the most ordinary things - a wooden spoon, a knitted sweater, water, books...

Remember aromas: in order to have a good sense of smell, you need to have not only a good sense of smell, but also a good memory! Don't forget to practice the latter.

Exercise your brain by describing scents using epithets and abstract definitions. The smell of orange - what is it like? Sweet, tart, fresh, morning, warm, tickling, New Year's - come up with dozens of definitions for each scent.

Elina Arsenyeva, owner of a school of perfumers, in the book “How to become a perfumer. Practical guide” suggests the following exercise: Describe your path from bed to work using smells. Be careful. Surely it smells like soap and toothpaste, and morning tea or coffee, your breakfast... The stairs and the elevator will have different smells. Are there bird cherry blossoms in the yard? Or are there garages that give off a gasoline, rubber smell? Or is there a railroad nearby and it smells like grease? List the smells in a row, let it be a trail of smells. Do not divide odors into pleasant and unpleasant. Accuracy of description is important.

Breathing exercises can also help. B.V. Shevrygin, professor, Honored Scientist of the Russian Federation, recommends doing the following exercise to develop the sense of smell. Sit up straight with your toes and heels together. Exhale completely and press both ear canals with your thumbs. Use your middle fingers to press the wings of your nose. Inhale sharply through your mouth, purse your lips and puff out your cheeks. After this, lower your chin to your chest, close your eyes and place your index fingers on your eyelids. Stay in this position until you need to exhale. Then raise your head, release your fingers except those covering your ears, and exhale through your nose. Put your hands down.

Two more exercises from G.V. Lavrenova: To strengthen the muscles of the nose, as well as the mouth and throat, read aloud from time to time. Pronounce the words clearly, distinctly, loudly, controlling yourself when pronouncing a number of consonant sounds (b, v, g, m, p, t, f, w);
Do the simplest exercise regularly breathing exercises: With your mouth closed, take 5-6 slow breaths in and out through your nose. In this case, place your hands on the neck (back) or on top part belly.

Diet. Scientists have discovered an interesting relationship between diet and the ability to recognize aromas. The experiment was carried out on mice, which had to point to the desired scent in order to receive a reward. For six months, some of the subjects were kept on a balanced diet, while other mice were fed a diet high in fat. As a result, in this second group, the number of neurons responsible for the perception of aromas was halved, and the mice coped with the task worse (Nicolas Thiebaud, Melissa C. Johnson, Jessica L. Butler, Genevieve A. Bell, Kassandra L. Ferguson, Andrew R. Fadool, James C. Fadool, Alana M. Gale, David S. Gale and Debra A. Fadool, 2014 ).

And as a preventive measure, protect your nose from chemicals. If you start working with aerosols and chemical paints, or decide to poison insects, make bath bombs with finely ground citric acid- wear a respirator, do not breathe caustic substances. Go to the park to breathe fresh air and ventilate your apartment more often.

You're walking down the street and suddenly you notice a subtle smell in the air - perhaps a mixture of the smells of damp earth, mown grass and ozone, signaling the approach of rain. Suddenly, a memory flashes through your mind of how you were standing under a canopy on a summer day, the rain was pattering on the road, and the smell of rain, earth and grass all around you.

The deaf-blind writer Helen Keller wrote about this ability of smells to evoke images of the past: “Smell is a powerful magician that transports us through thousands of miles and dozens of years lived... Smells, faint and fleeting, make my heart expand joyfully or contract sadly with memories.” Smells, more than any other sense, are associated with memory and emotions. A photograph of you standing under an awning admiring the rain, or the feeling of moisture on your hands, or the sound of drops hitting the roof will not evoke such poignant memories of that long-gone day, but the smell will.

Let's compare the smell with the taste. The tongue can basically only distinguish between sweet, sour, salty and bitter, but the human nose is able to recognize more than 10,000 different smells - from the aroma of freshly ground coffee to the smell of a new box of crayons. (Pinch your nose, and an apple will taste no different from a carrot.) We live literally bathed in smells, receiving new ones with every breath.

The sense of smell is so strong that it plays a central role in matters of survival. The smell helps animals find a mate and, no less important, food. Newborn baby animals look for their mother's milk by smell, since their eyes are not yet sharp enough to see the nipple. Human babies do this too. At the same time, spoiled food usually smells bad - this is how the smell helps us avoid poisoning.

Scientists are only now beginning to lift the veil of secrecy over smells and establish how we smell them. Our nose contains about a thousand odor receptors, located on a small area of ​​skin the size of a little fingernail. Receptors made of proteins cover the surface of this tissue, which consists of bundles of nerve cells.

These nerve cells are connected by antennae to the olfactory bulbs, whose nerve fibers carry information directly to the brain. And the part of the brain that receives this information (called the limbic system) becomes the seat of our feelings.

Some odor molecules, such as those emitted by flowers, fly directly into the nose and enter odor receptors. The odor molecules in the foods we eat take a different route, rising up from the throat.

Odor molecules come in a variety of shapes - wedge-shaped, spherical, rod-shaped, disc-shaped. When a molecule comes into contact with an odor receptor, the latter changes its shape - like a lock adjusting to a key. This change in shape causes the nerve cell to send a signal through the olfactory bulb to the brain. The brain interprets the signal as a specific smell, such as “wet dog.”

According to scientists, there are “families” of odors, and the molecules in each family have similar shapes. There are seven families, or categories, of odors: minty, floral, musky, resinous (such as turpentine), pungent (such as vinegar), disgusting (such as rotten eggs) and thin (for example, fresh pear).

Different receptors appear to perceive different odor components. For example, the smell that the brain identifies as “popcorn” has many different components. Change the components, and the receptors will cause the brain to report: “An ear of corn.”

The sense of smell is like a rudiment

The human body has undergone (and continues to undergo) certain changes in the process of evolution. For example, hundreds of thousands of years ago a person had three kidneys, but with changing conditions the third kidney was reduced. The ability to detect odors may be a vestigial feature that may also disappear over time. Many scientists who study this process in detail are inclined to this opinion. In their opinion, in the process of evolution, the olfactory system has lost its functional significance, and after some time (perhaps thousands of years) people will completely cease to smell. However, such claims are controversial because the olfactory system helps a person navigate in space, stimulates taste buds, and also plays a role in sexual desire. Therefore, the mystery of the olfactory system still remains unsolved.

Odor receptors

Like any other sensory system, the sense of smell is carried out thanks to the work of receptors - specific cells that capture odors and transmit information to the brain.

The superior turbinate is the olfactory region of the nose, which contains smell receptors. In their structure, these receptors are nerve cells (neurons) with numerous processes (dendrites). At the tips of these processes there are specific hairs that are immersed in the mucus of the nasal cavity. When substances enter the mucus, they dissolve in it and the olfactory hairs perceive these substances in the form of odor. The olfactory cells contain a signal amplification mechanism, which allows a person to perceive odors at ultra-low concentrations of substances.

As soon as the hairs of the scent receptors have caught a substance (smell) in the mucus, they begin to transmit a signal to neighboring nerve cells and threads to the brain, where the signal is processed and the perception of smell is formed.

The work of smell receptors in the process of smell

Interesting facts about how people perceive smells

Since the sense of smell remains a poorly understood phenomenon, scientists continue to discover Interesting Facts about this system. Here are some of them:

The sense of smell makes a significant contribution to a person’s sexual life. With the help of scent receptors, we perceive pheromones - specific substances produced by the body of each person. make a person attractive to another, causing sexual desire. In some animals this process is highly developed. high level.

The olfactory system is much better developed in women. Women are able to distinguish many more odors than men.

Women's sense of smell increases significantly during the menstrual cycle. At this time, a woman reacts especially actively to male pheromones.

In infants, the olfactory system is highly developed, but in the first year of life it loses almost 50% of its functions.

The right nostril in right-handed people perceives odors better, while in left-handed people the left nostril is more active.

Arkady Galanin