Digestive System Vocabulary

A ball-like mixture of food and saliva that forms in the mouth during the process of chewing.

• chyme

• bolus

• peristalsis

• digestion

The digestion process in which enzymes are used to break foods into their smaller chemical building blocks.

• mechanical digestion

• enzyme

• Chemical digestion

• absorption

A yellow-green fluid that is made by the liver, stored in the gallbladder, and passes through the common bile duct into the duodenum where it helps digest fat.

• bolus

• epiglottis

• chyme

• bile

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS1-7

A leaf-shaped flap in the throat that prevents food from entering the windpipe and the lungs.

• epiglottis

• peristalsis

• nutrient

• enzyme

A protein that speeds up a chemical reaction.

• nutrient

• enzyme

• bolus

• peristalsis

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS1-7

A series of wave-like muscle contractions that moves food to different processing stations in the digestive tract.

• absorption

• chemical digestion

• peristalsis

• mechanical digestion

A semi-fluid pulp formed in the stomach made of partly digested food and the secretions of the gastrointestinal tract

• chyme

• bolus

• bile

• epiglottis

Nutrients passing through the lining of the digestive walls and into the cells.

• absorption

• enzyme

• epiglottis

• chyme

Substances found in food that provide minerals and energy the body needs to carry out essential life processes.

• enzyme

• bolus

• peristalsis

• nutrient

A continuous passage starting from the mouth and ending at the anus, which carries food through different parts of the digestive system and allows waste to exit the body.

• chyme

• alimentary canal

• bolus

• bile