People use many senses that often you may not even be aware of. Try the experiment below to help see how much you use your senses just to keep your balance in day to day tasks.
Materials Needed
- cushion
- blindfold
What to Do
See how each of the following affects your ability to balance.
- Stand on the cushion with your arms out to the side. The cushion limits information from the bottoms of your feet, so is more difficult to stand on than a floor.
- Stand on one foot. This limits information to one foot only.
- Try to balance on one foot blindfolded. Information from your eyes helps you to balance.
- Hold your arms at your sides.You can now no longer make small adjustments to help keep your balance.
How easy is it to balance in each situation? As you do the activity, each step limits your sensory information more and more.
As you move around you constantly use sensors to assess the position of the body and use that information to make the required adjustments to keep you from losing your balance.