Tell the students that their tongues are organs that contain more than 9,000 taste buds.
The taste buds are grouped into four sections to identify sweet, salty, sour and bitter tastes.

Conduct a four-part taste test to help kids identify those special sections.

On an overhead projector, show a drawing of a tongue with lines separating the tip, sides (in two sections) and back.
Have children copy the illustration.
Place corn syrup, sour pickle juice, lightly salted water and pure lemon juice in four small jars and label each one.

Give eachchild two cotton swabs and let them take turns dipping one end of their swabs in a specified liquid and brushing a drop on their tongues.

After each dip, have them label on their tongue maps the section that seemed to control the taste.

When the students have tested all four liquids and labeled the map sections, have them compare their impressions with yours: tip (sweet), front sides (salty), back sides (sour) and the back of the tongue (bitter).

Remind children that if they cut down on sugar and salt for a while they'll get used to consuming less of these ingredients.