1. The Digestive System

2. What is the job of the Digestive System? To help get nutrients into the blood stream to travel to all cells. The digestive system is one big tube. What goes in one end, goes out the other. The digestive process takes about 24 hours to complete. (So when you’re eating supper, you’re still digesting breakfast).

3. How do we process food? How do we process food? 1) Digestion: Break the food down: Mechanical Chemical 2) Absorption: Get nutrients into circulation. 3) Metabolism: Cells use the nutrients.

4. Steps in Digestion

5. Mouth Function: Mechanical- chewing Chemical- food mixes with saliva Structure Teeth, tongue, salivary glands.

6. Esophagus Function Pushes food into stomach. Peristalsis- muscle contraction (Like squeezing last bit of toothpaste out of the tube.) Structure 25 cm long. A muscular tube

7. Stomach Structure: muscle with thick layer of mucous. Function: chemical – gastric juices mechanical- muscle contraction Break down food and kill microorganisms.

8. Small Intestine Function : break down starches, fats, and proteins. Structure: 3-6 meters long!! Coiled up

9. Liver Function: produce urea filter harmful substances from blood. Structure: about 3 lb

10. Gall Bladder Function: stores bile Structure: located under the liver

11. Pancreas Function: Completes the job of breaking down protein, carbohydrates, and fats. Structure : six inches long

12. Villi Function: slows down food so that nutrients can be absorbed into the blood stream Structure: little tiny hair-like projections that stick on intestine.

13. Large Intestine Function: water taken out and put back into body All “ leftovers” sent to leave body through excretion. Structure: 1.5 meters long

14. What is heart burn? Acid eats away at esophagus when there is no mucous in esophagus.

15. What is an ulcer? Gastric juices in your stomach that eat through the mucous lining. Causes: Stress Bacterial infections

16. Digestion in Action (run time: 24 minutes)