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Grades K–2 · Organisms

How can your skin notice warmth and cold?

Your skin has tiny nerve endings that respond to changes around them. Some help your nervous system notice warmth or cold. They are part of the living tissue beneath the surface.

U001 visual explanationTemperature changes can alter nerve messages; enlarged skin section; brain; The feeling is a sensory response, not an exact temperature reading.Temperature changes can alter nerve messagesenlarged skin sectionbrainThe feeling is a sensory response, not an exact temperature reading.

In the diagramTemperature changes can alter nerve messagesenlarged skin sectionbrainThe feeling is a sensory response, not an exact temperature reading.

An enlarged skin section shows sensory endings connected to a nerve route toward the brain. The drawing illustrates a message route, not a temperature scale.

When temperature changes affect these endings, they can change the messages traveling along nerves. Your brain uses the messages to help create the feeling of warm or cold. The skin does not need little eyes to notice the change.

These feelings help you respond to your surroundings, but they are not exact temperature numbers. What you felt a moment ago can affect how a new temperature feels. Your skin, nerves and brain work together to make the experience.

About this explanation

Starting knowledge: Recognize skin and compare familiar warm and cool surroundings.

Connect this idea: Living Systems & Mind

Sources

  • National Institutes of Health — Decoding how nerves sense heat and pain
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