Digestive System

Digestive System

What is the purpose of the Digestive System?

The purpose of the digestive system is to take in food and break it down so your cells can get (nutrients), and those nutrients enter your blood so that the circulatory system can take it to every cell in your body.

Open Ended

What did you eat for breakfast?

Parts of the Digestive System

• Mouth

• Esophagus

• Stomach

• Small Intestine

• Large Intestine

• Liver (A)

• Gallbladder (B)

Parts of the Digestive System cont.

• Pancreas (C)

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What is Digestion?

Digestion is the mechanical and chemical breakdown of food into smaller particles and molecules that your body can absorb and use.

Breaking Food Down

Mechanical Digestion – Involves the tearing, crushing and mashing of food. Example: When you take a bite and chew it with your teeth or when your muscles of the stomach contract and relax.

Chemical Digestion – When chemicals called enzymes help break down larger molecules into smaller molecules.

Multiple Choice

What do you call the organ that takes food from your mouth to your stomach?

• esophagus

• small intestine

What is the path food takes through your body?

1) Mouth – Food is shredded by the teeth and mixed with saliva. Saliva breaks down starches into simple sugars and softens and moistens the food. The tongue pushes the food, now called bolis, down the esophagus.

Multiple Choice

What is the purpose of the digestive system?

• to exchange gasses in your body

• to get rid of waste in the body

• to break down food into nutrients the body can use

• to break down food into oxygen

What is the path food takes to get through your body?

2) Esophagus – The muscles in the esophagus push the bolis down into the stomach while its walls, lined with mucus, makes it easier for the food to slide down.

What is the path food takes to get through your body?

3) Stomach – There is a strong acid called Hydrochloric acid  that dissolves the food.The digestive juices (enzymes and acid) that break protein causing it to now turn into a mush called the bolis. (chyme).  

What is the path food takes to get through your body?

4) Small Intestine – Most of digestion occurs here. Also reabsorption of the broken down macronutrients get reabsorbed in the blood. Nutrients passes into the bloodstream through the villi, which line the small intestine walls, and are transported throughout the body.

Multiple Choice

What is digestion?

• The process of breaking down large food molecules into smaller molecules.

• The process of breaking down large food molecules into bigger molecules.

What is the path food takes to get through your body?

5) Large Intestine – Materials that cannot be absorbed pass into the large intestine. The large intestine absorbs water and stores waste until it can be eliminated from the body.