Digestive system
The digestive system is the
series of tubelike organs that convert our meals into body fuel. In all there's
about 30 feet (9 meters) of these convoluted pipeworks, starting with the mouth
and ending with the anus.
Along the way, food
is broken down, sorted, and processed before being circulated around the body to
nourish and replace cells and supply energy to our muscles.
Food passes down the throat to
the esophagus, the first of a succession of hollow organs that transport their
contents through muscular contractions known as peristalsis.
The
esophagus empties into the stomach, a large, muscular chamber that mixes food up
with digestive juices including the enzymes pepsin, which targets proteins, and
lipase, which works on fats.
series of tubelike organs that convert our meals into body fuel. In all there's
about 30 feet (9 meters) of these convoluted pipeworks, starting with the mouth
and ending with the anus.
Along the way, food
is broken down, sorted, and processed before being circulated around the body to
nourish and replace cells and supply energy to our muscles.
Food passes down the throat to
the esophagus, the first of a succession of hollow organs that transport their
contents through muscular contractions known as peristalsis.
The
esophagus empties into the stomach, a large, muscular chamber that mixes food up
with digestive juices including the enzymes pepsin, which targets proteins, and
lipase, which works on fats.
Key Terms
1. mechanical digestion - When your body chews food to break it down
2. Chemical digestion - When your body helps dissolve the food and sucks the nutrients and proteins
3. amylase - An enzyme found in saliva
4. esophagus - Muscular tube that connects to the pharynx or throat to the stomach
5. peristalsis - The wall of the esophagus lined with smooth muscles
6. pepsin - a enzyme involved in the process of the chemical digestion of proteins
7. small intestine - Largest part of the digestive tract
9. liver - largest internal organ of the body and produces bile
10. villi - Fingerlike structures through which most nutrients are absorbed from the small intestine
11. gallbladder - a sac shaped organ that stores bile produced by the liver
Questions you should know
1. What does it mean when something went down the wrong way when you swallow ?
2. Compare Mechanical and Chemical digestion
3.The digestive system processes food into usable and unusable materials. The usable materials are sent to the body's cells as food. What happens to unusable materials?
4. Name 5 organs in the digestive tract
5. What is inside saliva? what do they do ?
6. The stomach is responsible for what?
7. What are the parts of blood?
8. Absorption can take place in the...?
9. Where does digestion begin?
10. How does the stomach help to break down food?
11. Food nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream from which part of the digestive system?
12. What is the rectum?
1. What does it mean when something went down the wrong way when you swallow ?
2. Compare Mechanical and Chemical digestion
3.The digestive system processes food into usable and unusable materials. The usable materials are sent to the body's cells as food. What happens to unusable materials?
4. Name 5 organs in the digestive tract
5. What is inside saliva? what do they do ?
6. The stomach is responsible for what?
7. What are the parts of blood?
8. Absorption can take place in the...?
9. Where does digestion begin?
10. How does the stomach help to break down food?
11. Food nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream from which part of the digestive system?
12. What is the rectum?
True or False :
1. Kidneys manufacture digestive juices
2. Large Intestine is the largest part of the digestive tract.
3. The liver is the smallest organ of the digestive system
4. The pancreas produces and stores bile
5. Waste goes to small intestine to get disposed
6. Nutrients are preferentially absorbed throughout the small intestine
7. Active and passive transport are the same except that they carry different nutrients across the membrane.
1. Kidneys manufacture digestive juices
2. Large Intestine is the largest part of the digestive tract.
3. The liver is the smallest organ of the digestive system
4. The pancreas produces and stores bile
5. Waste goes to small intestine to get disposed
6. Nutrients are preferentially absorbed throughout the small intestine
7. Active and passive transport are the same except that they carry different nutrients across the membrane.
More questions
1. What is removed from the undigested food when it is in the Large Intestine ?
2. What are the two main functions of the pancreas?
3. After the food leaves our stomach it heads into which part of the digestive system?
4. How does the liver help with digestion ?
5. Where does digestion end ?
6. What is constipation ?
7. What is diarrhea ?
1. What is removed from the undigested food when it is in the Large Intestine ?
2. What are the two main functions of the pancreas?
3. After the food leaves our stomach it heads into which part of the digestive system?
4. How does the liver help with digestion ?
5. Where does digestion end ?
6. What is constipation ?
7. What is diarrhea ?