π« My body and food π The senses
The nose
π In short
The nose is an organ in the middle of your face that you breathe and smell with. It looks simple from the outside, but inside it has amazing passages and chambers that clean and warm the air before it reaches your lungs.
π€© Did you know?
- People can tell apart thousands of different smells.
- A sneeze can shoot out of the nose very fast.
- A dog's nose smells thousands of times better than a person's.
- The nose warms cold air before it reaches the lungs.
π Find out more
π Two holes and two passages
Air comes in through two holes called nostrils, separated by a thin wall of cartilage and bone, then passes through two passages in the nose to the throat.
π The air cleaner
The nose has tiny hairs and a sticky substance called mucus that catch dust and germs so they don't get into the lungs. And when something annoying gets in, you sneeze to blast it out!
π‘ The sense of smell
At the top of the nose are special cells that detect smells and send messages to the brain. With them you know the smell of fresh bread and flowers, and you smell smoke, which warns you of danger.
π― Smell and taste are friends
A big part of a food's taste comes from its smell! That's why, when your nose is blocked with a cold, food seems to have no taste.
πΈ More pictures
𧩠Test yourself
1 What catches dust inside the nose?
2 Why does food seem tasteless when you have a cold?
3 Which picture shows βThe noseβ?