Warning: I believe the following topic can be considered impolite. This post is primarily about snot and picking your nose. If you will take offense, do not read on.
As I do every spring, I looked at H smilingly sheepishly back at me. I had caught her again, picking her nose, in public. I gave her "the look" and whispered "Gross. Why do you do that?" She looked back at me steadily and said, "If you aren't supposed to pick it, why does it taste so good?" OOhhh. I needed more info, what exactly is snot, it is gross stuff, right?
So here goes, snot is just another name for mucus, and boogers are just dried up snot. Snot is really good for us. Each of us has hairs in our noses to trap dirt and germ particles that we breath in. The hairs protect our lungs. When the occasional germ escapes the hairs and gets into our lungs, it might cause a cold or if the particle is pollen, an allergy. Our body secretes mucus to recapture those particles and force them back out, and mucus also cleans out the stored dirt particles in the nose hairs. So there you have it. Your very own Grossology explanation. Oh, and the reason it tastes "good" is because mucus is primarily made of sugars and proteins.
If you follow this link you will find an experiment to make fake snot and then use dirt and see how the "mucus" traps the dirt. Sounds like a good project for summer to me!
www.library.thinkquest.org/JO112390/Boogers.htm
1 comment:
THis was a beautiful post. :)
You know, I have 4 kids, and no one eats their boogers, which I find odd because I think me and my brother both did.
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