Sensitivity investigation

Aim:
The purpose of this investigation is to test how sensitive is your skin on
different parts in your body are to pressure, and understanding what
areas in the human body are more sensitive than others.
Prediction:
Probably the most sensitive area will be the finger tips for many
reasons, one could be that the receptors are nearer to the surface of
the skin and another reason could be that the skin is softer and more
easily distorted on the finger-tips.
Equipment:
1. A piece of wire.
2. Recording sheet.
Method:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Get into teams of 2.

Bring a piece of wire and bend it into a shape of U.
Make sure that the wire is 1cm apart.
Choose five areas of the body where your partner is happy to be
touched. This could be their finger tips, knee, back of the hand,
sole of foot, lip or cheek.
5. Record the five parts of the body you choose in a table drawn in
your recording sheet.
Area of body to
be tested
Finger tips

Number of
points felt (first
time)
2

Number of
points felt
(second time)
2

Number of
points felt (third
time)
2

Back of hand
knee
lip
Sole of foot

2
1
2
1

1
1
2
1

1
1
2
1

6. Tell your partner to close his/her eyes.

7. Inform your partner that you are going to start with the
experiment.
8. Press the points of the wire into your partners skin.
9. Ask your partner whether he/she felt one or two points.
10.
Record the answer next to the part of body that has been
experimented on.
11.
Repeat this method for the rest of the body parts you have
chosen.
12.
Record the rest of the results in the recording sheet.
13.
When finished with the five body parts, repeat this method
for 2 more times with the same five body parts you have chosen,
so you can have an accurate piece of results and to make this a
fair test.
14.
Compare your results with all your other classmates, and
see which body part was the most popular, that got felt by two
points in the first, second and third time.
Result:
The most sensitive parts on your body is the fingertips and the
lip.
The independent variable for the experiment was the different
body parts that was experimented on.
The dependent variable is the number of points felt in each
different body part.
The control variable for the experiment was the distance between
the U shaped wire that had to be 1cm apart through the whole
experiment.
Conclusion:
The fingertips and the lips are most sensitive because the part of your
brain that receives information from your sensory neurons doesn't
treat all parts of the body equally. The reason you are more sensitive
on your fingertips than your sole of foot is that there are many more
sensory neurons on your fingertips. When an area has more sensory
neurons there is a larger brain area devoted to receiving their signals,
meaning more sensitivity.
Evaluation:
How to avoid errors:

1. It is important that the person tested cannot see (and does not
know) whether they are being tested with one point or two.
2. The area that is tested on should be bare (the person should not
put the two pins on top of the sleeve to test the arm).
3. Repeating the investigation more than once is a good way to
avoid errors, and have an accurate piece of results.