Chemical Digestion in the Mouth Biscuit Lab Summary Salivary glands found around your mouth produce saliva that begins chemical digestion of carbohydrates. Starches are changed chemically to simple sugars. Our classes evidence: We have evidence of this from the biscuit/cracker lab. When the biscuit sat on our tongue, it had a bland taste but after 60+ seconds the cracker started to taste sweet. This is because the saliva has a chemical enzyme (amylase) that chemically breakdowns starches in the cracker to simple sugars.

1. Mechanical Digestion Our classes’ evidence Teeth chewed cracker into smaller pieces Tongue balled it up and pushed it back into esophagus. Grinding and mashing of food into smaller pieces. i.e. Teeth, Tongue 2. Chemical Digestion – Chemical breaking down of food into nutrients using enzymes. i.e. Saliva -- Molecules change to form new smaller molecules that can be absorbed by cells Types of Digestion

Esophagus The esophagus is a long tube that connects the mouth to the stomach. We will do a lab to explain how food passes through the esophagus after our quiz tomorrow