Proving An Elementary Science Lesson Wrong With Two Questions

[Lawr]

Yeah, you forgot greasy.

[Remulak]

Umami, you hoser.

[Balzac]

This is a life changing theory right here.

[Peegee]

Umami, you hoser.

Exactly.

There isn't an onion receptor in your tongue.

[Wind_Falcon]

Umami, you hoser.

Exactly.

There isn't an onion receptor in your tongue.

Then how do you feel its unique taste.

[Madame Adequate]

This is a life changing theory right here.

For true.

Man deserves an Ig Nobel Prize.

[Vivisteiner]

Whenever Science is taught in schools, it is always a simplified model. At Primary school, the model is extremely simple. At older ages it is more complex, but still misses out key ideas. Even at the very ends of scientific understanding, the best scientists can do is create extremely accurate models.

Take the atom, for example, as you go from elementary school to the very hight levels.

A ball of matter ------> Negative electrons orbiting a positive nucleus---> a nucleus made of quarks bonded by the strong force, surrounded by electrons in shells and sub-shells, moving unpredictable as dictated by quantum mechanics, to form a 'cloud' of probabilities.

[Old Manus]

I suppose elementary school science is an acquired taste.

[rubah]

Aren't flavors a combination of taste and smell?

Yes. And that also is evidence against this elementary school science lesson.

my kindergarten teacher taught us about the smell+taste thing in addition to the other stuff.

[Ouch!]

I suppose elementary school science is an acquired taste.

Wow.

[Roto13]

*facepalm*

[Madame Adequate]

I suppose elementary school science is an acquired taste.

I guffawed heartily, good chap.

[Yar]

I was also taught in elementary school that Pluto was a planet.

Little did they know.

[Sir Lancealot]

I was also taught in elementary school that Pluto was a planet.

Little did they know.

Yeah, isn't Pluto a dog.

[Big D]

In elementary school science we learned a few things about the tongue and flavors.

We learned that all food falls among the only four flavors: Salty, sweet, sour, and bitter.

I can prove that wrong with this unanswerable question:
Describe the flavor of a white onion using only the terms, salty, sweet, sour, and bitter.

Flavours like that are comprised of bits and pieces of the other 'basic' flavours.

We also learned that each of these flavors has a designated part of the tongue that can only taste that flavor and nothing else.

I can prove that wrong with this unanswerable question:
Why is it that you can taste any food on any part of your tongue?

The tongue's quite small, so food gets spread across its surface relatively fast. You have to try really hard to apply a substance on only one area. And, as has been mentioned, most foods contain various flavours - so you'll get a reaction from just about any part of your tongue.

Here's a good test - wasabi, as most know, has a very strong flavour which creates quite a reaction. So, dab a spot of wasabi on the very front of your tongue. Observe the results. Once the taste has subsided, dab another spot of wasabi on the very back of your tongue. It'll barely register.

Much like the use of "punnet squares" to describe allele interactions, school science class does indeed simplify some things for the sake of simplicity and clarity. The basic principles are correct, though - in this case, the idea that the human tongue has different regions that are sensitive to different basic flavour types.