Final answer:
The skin contains specialized sensory nerve structures that detect touch, surface temperature, and pain. Receptors for touch are more concentrated on the tips of the fingers.
Step-by-step explanation:
The skin acts as a sense organ because it contains specialized sensory nerve structures that detect touch, surface temperature, and pain. These receptors are more concentrated on the tips of the fingers, where the Meissner corpuscle responds to light touch and the Pacinian corpuscle responds to vibration. In addition to these specialized receptors, there are sensory nerves connected to each hair follicle, pain and temperature receptors scattered throughout the skin, and motor nerves that innervate the arrector pili muscles and glands.