OtterKnow Kids Encyclopedia

Tiny hairs inside your nose filter out dust and germs so they do not get into your lungs. The air also gets warmed up inside your nose, which is easier on your lungs than cold, dry air. High up inside your nose, special smell receptors detect thousands of different smells and send signals to your brain!

Breathing through your nose is better for you than breathing through your mouth because your nose cleans and warms the air first. Your sense of smell is closely connected to your sense of taste, which is why food does not taste as good when your nose is stuffed up from a cold. Your nose also warns you about danger, like smelling smoke from a fire!

• Your nose can detect over 1 trillion different smells!
• You sneeze when your nose needs to push out irritating things like dust or germs.
• Dogs have about 300 million smell receptors in their noses, while humans have only about 6 million — that is why dogs are such great sniffers!