DIGESTIVE SYSTEM BY: ABE, JAMEZ, CHRISTIAN

DEFINITION The organs and glands in the body that are responsible for digestion. The digestive system begins with the mouth and extends through the esophagus, stomach, small intestine, and large intestine, ending with the rectum and anus.

WHERE IT IS IN THE BODY It is in the center of the body

HOW DIGESTION WORKS Digestion works by moving food through the GI tract

THE PATH FOOD TRAVELS When you take that first bite of food with your teeth, digestion begins. Food is first crushed up by the teeth. Teeth such as the incisors cut the food into bite size pieces. Then the canines slash the food into even smaller pieces. Premolars and molars grind the food and the saliva moistens the food. There are enzymes that speed up the chemical reactions in the mouth, such as separating sugar from starch. The saliva in your mouth also help break down carbohydrates. After the food is broken down, your tongue pushes the food into the back of your mouth, where it goes to the esophagus. This muscular tube, that is connected to the stomach, helps food travel down to the stomach. Then the food reaches the stomach. Enzymes in the stomach and other digestive juices come and help the stomach digest the food. Hydrochloric acid, one of the stomachs main enzymes, helps break down proteins and fats. After food sits in the stomach for about four hours, the food, now chyme moves into the small intestine. As food travels into the small intestine, the liver and the pancreas break down the chyme with the enzymes they have made. The liver makes an enzyme called bile. Bile is used to break down fats. The pancreas makes enzymes that break down starches, proteins, and fats. As the chyme moves through the small intestine, there are little finger like shaped linings on the wall of the small intestine. These are called villi. Villi is used to help absorb nutrients for the body. Then the chyme is passed to the large intestine, where water is absorbed from the chyme. From there it is passed to the rectum, and then the anus. The anus then expels the chyme from the body.

HOW EACH PART WORKS Mouth-the opening in the lower part of the human face, surrounded by the lips, through which food is taken in and from which speech and other sounds are emitted. Esophagus-the part of the alimentary canal that connects the throat to the stomach; the gullet. Stomach-the internal organ in which the major part of the digestion of food occurs, being (in humans and many mammals) a pear-shaped enlargement of the alimentary canal linking the esophagus to the small intestine.

HOW EACH PART WORKS Small intestines-the part of the intestine that runs between the stomach and the large intestine. Liver-a large lobed glandular organ in the abdomen of vertebrates, involved in many metabolic processes. Pancreas- a large gland behind the stomach that secretes digestive enzymes into the duodenum. Large intestine-the cecum, colon, and rectum collectively.

4 FUN FACTS 1.It takes every part of the digestive system to digest a glass of milk 2.Food stays in your stomach for 3 to 4 hours 3.The gall bladder stores in the bile used to break down dietary fat 4.Our salivary glands produce around 1.5 liters of saliva each day