INTEGUMENTARY SYSTEM LABORATORY
Nerve Density in Your Palm versus Your Forearm Skin
Name:
Period:
Date:
Research Question: Which skin surface has a greater nerve density: thick skin or thin skin?
Materials: Alcohol, cotton swabs, sterile pins, ruler, data sheet.
PROCEDURE:
1. Clean your work area and collect your materials. & clean pins with alcohol
2. Swab your partners inside forearm and palm with alcohol..
3. Gently touch the palm with one pin.
4. While maintaining the gentle touch, place the second needle some distance away..
Move the second needle closer to the first until your partner can only feel one needle.
5. Measure the distance between the two needles and record in Table 1.
6. Repeat this procedure 5 times in different places on the palm.
7. Repeat this procedure 6 times on the inside forearm and record data in Table.1
8. Repeat this procedure at least 6 times on the inside forearm and record data in the Table.
9. Reverse rolls: Have your partner measure these distances on your skin & record data.
10. Clean your work area
Table 1: Distances between nerves in the Integumentary System at various skin locations.
Trial
Palm
Forearm
Lower leg
Other
#
(cm)
(cm)
(cm)
(cm)
1
2
3
4
5
6
Avg
Class
Avg
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INTEGUMENTARY SYSTEM LABORATORY
Nerve Density in Your Palm versus Your Forearm Skin
GRAPH: Distances between nerves at various skin locations.
[n.b. Lable vertical axis using units of mm; label horizontal axis with skin locations.]
ANALYSIS:
1. In your own words, describe “surface (skin) nerve density”.
2. Which part of your skin has a higher nerve density?
3. Why do you think you have a greater nerve density in that skin?
4. Based on these results, where on your skin might you expect to have the highest nerve
density? Why?
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