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By

Rebecca K. Fraker

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The Digestive System

• Esophagus• Stomach• Small Intestine• Large Intestine• Liver• Gall Bladder• Pancreas

What has happened to the food you ate today?

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In the Mouth

• Digestion actually begins in the mouth.

• The teeth break the food into smaller pieces, and the tongue moves the pieces around so that saliva can be mixed with them.

• This begins the digestion.• Then swallow, and the

journey begins!

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Esophagus

• About 10” long• Moves food from the

throat to the stomach.– The muscle movement is

called peristalsis.

• Heartburn is when acid from the stomach gets in here.

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Stomach

• Stores the food you eat, breaks it down into tiny pieces.

• Mixes food with digestive juices.

• Acid in the stomach kills bacteria.

• It can stretch and shrink.

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Small Intestine• Small intestines are roughly

22 feet long. “Small” refers to its diameter, not its length.

• Insides are coated with little ‘fingers’ called cilia to increase surface area.

• Nutrients from the food pass into the bloodstream through the small intestine walls.

• You can have pieces removed but it is very hard for your body to get the right nutrients.

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Large Intestine

• About 5 feet long.• Accepts what small

intestines don’t absorb.

• Absorbs water and minerals from the waste matter.

• You can lose a large part of this and still survive.

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Liver

• Directly affects digestion by producing bile.– Bile helps digest fat.

• Processes nutrients in the blood, filters out toxins and waste.

• Is often called the body’s energy factory.

• You cannot live without a liver, although you can live with a part of one.

• Drinking alcohol damages the liver.

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Gall Bladder

• Stores bile from the liver.

• Delivers bile when food is digested.

• Fatty diets can cause gallstones.

• You can live without a gallbladder.

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Pancreas

• Produces compounds to digest fats and proteins.

• Neutralizes acids that enter small intestine.

• Regulates blood sugar by producing insulin.

• If it doesn’t work right you get diabetes.

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Fun Facts

• HOW LONG ARE YOUR INTESTINES? At least 25 feet in an adult. Be glad you're not a full-grown horse -- their coiled-up intestines are 89 feet long!

• Food drying up and hanging out in the large intestine can last 18 hours to 2 days!

• In your lifetime, your digestive system may handle about 50 tons!!

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On a sheet of paper, write the name of each colored organ:

• Green:• Red:• Pink:• Brown:• Purple:• Green:• Yellow:

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Did you get the answers right?

• Green: Esophagus• Red: Stomach• Pink: Small Intestine• Brown: Large Intestine• Purple: Liver• Green: Gall Bladder• Yellow: Pancreas

Great Job!

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References and Links

• Your Digestive System and How It Works: http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/yrdd/Your_Digestive_Sys.pdf

– Digestive system diagram comes from this site

• The Real Deal on the Digestive System

http://kidshealth.org/kid/body/digest_SW_p2.html

• Pancreas: Introduction and Index http://www.vivo.colostate.edu/hbooks/pathphys/digestion/pancreas/index.html

• Your Gross and Cool Body – Digestive System http://yucky.discovery.com/flash/body/pg000126.html