📐 Diagram of Tongue for Class 5

The tongue is a muscular organ covered in taste buds that detects flavours and helps move food during chewing and swallowing, while also shaping the sounds of speech.

Why It's Important

• Detects the five basic tastes
• Helps position food for chewing and swallowing safely
• Shapes sounds to form speech
• Made almost entirely of flexible muscle

Observation Points

• Locate the papillae covering the tongue's surface
• Consider which areas detect which tastes
• Notice how flexible and muscular the tongue is
• Identify its role during swallowing

Learning Objectives

• Identify the main structures of the tongue
• Explain how taste buds detect flavour
• Describe the tongue's role in chewing and speech
• Understand why the tongue is mostly muscle

Summary

The tongue's taste buds detect flavour while its flexible muscle helps move food safely through chewing and swallowing, and shapes the sounds of speech.