A Journey Through the Digestive System

Objective
Students will use math and science skills while taking a journey through the
digestive system.
Oklahoma Academic
Background
The main function of the digestive system is to break down food into
Standards
molecules small enough for the body to absorb. The nutrients are absorbed in
the body and used for energy. Our digestive system goes through eight basic GRADE 3
steps. Speaking and Listening:
R.1,2,3; W.1,2. Reading and
Writing Process: R.3. Critical
1. Mouth/Teeth—First steps in the digestive system take place in the mouth
Reading and Writing: W.2.
as the teeth cut, tear, and grind the food down into small enough pieces so
Vocabulary: R.1,3,5
that it can fit down the throat. Saliva is squirted into the food to moisten
Number & Operations: 2.3,5.
and soften the food. The mouth makes close to 500 milliliters (1/2 quart)
of saliva each day. Saliva contains chemicals called enzymes, which break Measurement: 2.3,4
down the starches in the food. The enzyme in saliva that breaks down Health—1.11 PE—
5.34; 6.2
starch into sugar is called amylase.
2. Tongue—A muscle that works with the food and saliva to form a “ball”
that can be swallowed. Of course, the tongue also contains taste buds that GRADE 4
help us tell the difference between salty, sour, sweet and bitter foods. Speaking and Listening:
R.1,2,3; W.1,2. Reading and
3. Esophagus—The esophagus is simply a transportation tube from the
Writing Process: R.3. Critical
mouth to the stomach. When we swallow, what we are really doing is
closing a trap door in our throat called the epiglottis. This sends food Reading and Writing: W.2.
down the esophagus and prevents food from going down the trachea Vocabulary: R.1,3,5
(or windpipe) and into our lungs. Food moves down the esophagus by Number & Operations: 1.5.
a process called peristalsis. Peristalsis uses layers of muscle in your Algebraic Reasoning: 2.2.
esophagus and intestines. These muscles relax and contract in a wave Measurement: 2.4,5
motion to pass food forward. Life Science: 1-1 Health—
1.11
4. Stomach—The first stop after the esophagus is the stomach. Once the
food gets to the stomach, the stomach uses chemicals to try to make
the food particles tinier. These chemicals are called gastric juices, and GRADE 5
they include hydrochloric acid and enzymes (chemicals that break down Speaking and Listening:
food). The food is moved around in the stomach and mixed with the R.1,2,3; W.1,2. Reading and
chemicals for 3-4 hours. When the stomach is finished with it, the food is Writing Process: R.3. Critical
a creamlike liquid called chyme. This substance is still not small enough Reading and Writing: W.2.
to get into our blood stream, and it has not yet provided the body with
Vocabulary: R.1,3,5
anything useful. Now a valve at the end of the stomach opens, sending the Physical Science: 1-4. Life
food past the liver. Science: 2-1
5. Liver/Gallbladder—At this point, our food is hit with more chemicals. Number & Operations: 1.4.
The liver makes a chemical called bile, and it is stored in the gallbladder. Measurement: 3.2,3,4
When the gallbladder mixes bile with our food, it does an important job: Health—1.8; 3.10
breaking down the fat (from milk, butter, cheeses) into tiny droplets. This
PE—4.1; 5.5; 6.3; 7.1,3
fat will supply us with much energy later.

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 6. Pancreas—The pancreas also adds a digestive chemical as the food
leaves the stomach. This digestive juice works on breaking down the
carbohydrates (from breads, potatoes, pasta, etc.) and the proteins (from
meats, eggs, peanut butter, etc.)
7. Small intestine—The small intestine is the real hero of the digestive system.
The small intestine is a tube that is about 18 feet long! This is where the
real digestion takes place. As the food passes through, it is mixed with the
new chemicals and is finally digested enough to be put to use by the body.
Along the walls of the intestine are thousands of tiny fingers called villi.
Blood vessels (capillaries) in the villi can absorb the tiny food molecules
and send them off to the rest of our body through the blood.
8. Large Intestine—Whatever the body cannot put to use is sent to the large
intestine. Many plants, for example, contain cellulose, which cannot be
digested. The big job of the large intestine is to remove water. Water has
been necessary up until this point in the digestive process. Now it is no
longer needed; therefore, the water in the large intestine is sent into the
bloodstream. Food spends about 12 hours in the large intestine. Undigested
food is called solid waste feces, and this is stored in the rectum until it
leaves the body.

You can help your digestive system by drinking water and fluids, at least eight
glasses a day, and eating a healthy diet that includes foods rich in fiber. High-
Materials
fiber foods, like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, make it easier for solid
long string and a yardstick
waste to pass through your system.
unsalted or regular crackers
The digestive system is a pretty important part of your body. Without it, you
couldn’t get the nutrients you need to grow properly and stay healthy. Next time
dictionaries
you sit down to lunch, you’ll know where your food goes—from start to finish!
chalk or marker
English Language Arts
1. Provide copies of the student worksheet.
—Read and discuss background.
—Students will fill in the blanks on the worksheet as they listen to you read
the background information.
2. Hand out vocabulary worksheet.
—Review vocabulary
—Students will write the correct word next to the definition. Provide
dictionaries.
3. Students will write, diagram or act out the eight-step journey of food
through the digestive system.

Science
1. Discuss the role of saliva in breaking down food. Saliva contains chemicals
called enzymes, which break down the starches in the food. The enzyme in
saliva that breaks down starch into sugar is called amylase. Why does saliva
help digest food?

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 —Students take several bites of a cracker and chew Vocabulary
thoroughly but DO NOT SWALLOW the cracker. amylase— an enzyme that speeds up the
—Students write descriptions of the cracker’s flavor and digestion of starch or glycogen
texture. bile— a thick bitter yellow or greenish
—Students keep chewing the cracker for at least one minute fluid that is secreted by the liver and aids
and try not to swallow. in the digestion and absorption of fats in
—Students write descriptions of the cracker’s flavor and the duodenum
texture after the saliva has worked on it. capillary— any of the tiny blood vessels
—Ask students what they think the saliva does to the starch connecting the small arteries and veins
in the cracker. Students write their answers. cellulose— a complex carbohydrate that is
—Discuss some of the ways saliva helps digest food. the chief part of the cell walls of plants
chyme— the partly fluid and partly solid
Math mass of incompletely digested food that
1. How long is the average digestive system? passes from the stomach into the first part
—Mark off 3 inches (7 cm) of string to represent your mouth. of the small intestine
—Add 10 inches (25 cm) for your esophagus. digestion—the act of to converting food
—Add 6 inches (15 cm) for your stomach. into simpler forms that can be taken in and
—Add 18 feet (5.5 m) for your small intestine. used by the body
—Add 5 feet (1.5 m) more for your large intestine. enzyme— any of various complex
—Measure the entire length of the string and record the proteins produced by living cells that
results. How many inches? Centimeters? Feet? Meters? bring about or speed up reactions (as
Yards? in the digestion of food) without being
permanently altered
Physical Education epiglottis— a thin plate of flexible
1. Play this game to test students’ knowledge of vocabulary cartilage in front of the glottis that folds
words. back over and protects the glottis during
—Write “Digestive System” on two separate places on the swallowing
chalkboard. esophagus— a muscular tube that leads
—Create an open space where students can move from the from the cavity behind the mouth to the
back of the room to the front of the room to the chalkboard. stomach
—Divide the class into two groups. Make sure the teams are feces— bodily waste discharged through
divided evenly. One person may have to go twice. the anus
—Each group will line up at the back of the room for a relay gallbladder— a muscular sac in which
race. bile from the liver is stored
—The first person in each line will be given a piece of chalk. large intestine— the last part of the
—One by one, students will hop, walk backwards or skip to intestine which is wider and shorter than
the chalkboard. the small intestine, which consists of the
—At the chalkboard, each student will write one of the cecum, colon, and rectum, and which
vocabulary words before returning to the group hopping, absorbs water from the material left over
walking backward, etc. from digestion and prepares the feces for
—The returning student will pass the chalk to the next person release from the body
in his/her line. That person will hop, walk backward or skip liver— a large glandular organ of
across the room and add another different word to the list. No vertebrates that secretes bile and causes
team member can use a word already used by another team changes in the blood (as by changing
member. sugars into glycogen and by forming urea)
—Students repeat the process until everyone has had a mouth— the opening through which
chance to write a word on the chalkboard. food passes into the body of an animal
—First group to finish wins. and which in vertebrates is typically
surrounded on the outside by the lips and
encloses the tongue, gums, and teeth
 Resources used for this lesson: www.sciencebob.com/lab/
bodyzone/digestion.html
Vocabulary www.quia.com/jg/66042.html
pancreas— a large gland of vertebrates www.imcpl.org/kids/guides/health/digestivesystem.html
that lies near the stomach and produces Carothers, Sue, and Elizabeth Henke, “Skills for Success—Human
digestive enzymes and insulin Body—Grades 4-6 workbook, Carson-Dellosa.
peristalsis— the contracting and Shevic, Edward, Health Science Workbook—Grades 4-8, Teaching
expanding movements by which food and and Learning.
waste products of digestion are forced
through parts (as the esophagus and Extra Reading
intestine) of the digestive system Bloch, Serge, You Are What You Eat and Other Mealtime Hazards,
rectum— the end of the large intestine Sterling, 2010.
that links the colon to the anus Corcoran, Mary K., and Jef Czekaj, The Quest to Digest,
saliva— a fluid containing water, protein, Charlesbridge, 2006.
salts, and often a starch-splitting enzyme Junior Master Gardener, Health and Nutrition From the Garden,
that is secreted into the mouth by salivary Texas Agriculture Extension, 2002.
glands Macaulay, David, The Way We Work, Houghton Mifflin, 2008.
small intestine— the long narrow part of Miller, Edward, The Monster Health Book: A Guide to Eating
the intestine between the stomach and the Healthy, Being Active and Feeling Great for Monsters &
colon in which food is mostly digested, Kids, Holiday House, 2008.
from which digested food is absorbed Showers, Paul, and Edward Miller, What Happens to a
into the body, and which consists of the Hamburger?, Collins, 2001.
duodenum, jejunum, and ileum
stomach— a pouch of the vertebrate
digestive system into which food passes
from the esophagus for mixing and
digestion before passing to the duodenum
of the small intestine
tooth— one of the hard bony structures
that are usually located on the jaws of
vertebrates and are used for seizing and
chewing food and as weapons b : any of
various usually hard and sharp structures
especially around the mouth of an
invertebrate
tongue— a fleshy movable muscular
part of the floor of the mouth of most
vertebrates that has sensory organs (as
taste buds) and small glands and functions
especially in taking and swallowing food
and in human beings as a speech organ
trachea— the main part of the system of
tubes by which air passes to and from the
lungs in vertebrates -- called also windpipe
villi— one of the tiny finger-shaped
processes of the mucous membrane of the
small intestine through which digested
food is absorbed
Name

Digestive Tract
Use the words in the box to label the digestive tract below. Write the correct words in the spaces
provided.

anus
esophagus
large
intestine
mouth
rectum
small intestine
stomach

Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom is a program of the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, the Oklahoma
Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry and the Oklahoma State Department of Education.
Name

Digestive Tract (Answers)

Use the words in the box to label the digestive tract below. Write the correct words in the spaces
provided.

anus
esophagus
large
intestine
mouth
rectum
small intestine
stomach
Mouth

Esophagus

Stomach

Small Large
Intestine Intestine

Anus Rectum

Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom is a program of the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, the Oklahoma
Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry and the Oklahoma State Department of Education.
Name

Digestion Vocabulary
Find the word in the box that matches the definition. Write the definition on the line
provided. Use a dictionary if you need one. amylase
bile
1. a large, lobed organ that produces bile capillary
2. any of the tiny blood vessels connecting the small cellulose
arteries and veins chyme
3. a liquid produced by the liver that helps digest fat digestion
4. a complex carbohydrate that is the chief part of the cell enzyme
walls of plants epiglottis
5. process by which the body changes food so it can be esophagus
used to supply energy feces
6. flap of tissue that covers the windpipe during gallbladder
swallowing of food large intestine
7. the main part of the system of tubes by which air liver mouth
passes to and from the lungs in vertebrates, called also pancreas
windpipe peristalsis
8. a muscular tube which connects the throat to the rectum
stomach saliva
9. a J-shaped, muscular sac that stores food and helps salivary glands
digest it small intestine
10. bodily waste discharged through digestive system/ stomach
process tooth
11. a fluid containing water, protein, salts and often a tongue
starch-splitting enzyme that is secreted into the mouth trachea
by salivary glands villi
12. organ where bile is stored
13. one of the hard bony structures that are usually located
on the jaws of vertebrates and are used for seizing and chewing food
14. the enzyme in saliva that breaks down starch into sugar
15. a short, wide tube in which water is absorbed from undigested food
16. finger-like structures that cover the inner wall of the small intestine
17. chemicals that break down food
18. the opening through which food passes into the body
19. a gland that produces pancreatic juice
20. squeezing motion that pushes food through the digestive system
21. part of the body at the end of the large intestine where solid wastes are stored until
they leave the body; a straight muscle
22. the partly fluid and partly solid mass of incompletely digested food that passes
from the stomach into the first part of the small intestine
23. glands that produce saliva
24. a long, coiled tube in which food is digested and absorbed
25. a muscle that works with the food and saliva to form a “ball”

Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom is a program of the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, the Oklahoma
Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry and the Oklahoma State Department of Education.
Name

Digestion Vocabulary (answers)

Find the word in the box that matches the definition. Write the definition on the line
provided. Use a dictionary if you need one. amylase
bile
1. liver a large, lobed organ that produces bile capillary
2. capillary any of the tiny blood vessels connecting the small cellulose
arteries and veins chyme
3. bile a liquid produced by the liver that helps digest fat digestion
4. cellulose a complex carbohydrate that is the chief part of the cell enzyme
walls of plants epiglottis
5. digestion process by which the body changes food so it can be esophagus
used to supply energy feces
6. epiglottis flap of tissue that covers the windpipe during gallbladder
swallowing of food large intestine
7. trachea the main part of the system of tubes by which air liver mouth
passes to and from the lungs in vertebrates, called also pancreas
windpipe peristalsis
8. esophagus a muscular tube which connects the throat to the rectum
stomach saliva
9. stomach a J-shaped, muscular sac that stores food and helps salivary glands
digest it small intestine
10. feces bodily waste discharged through digestive system/ stomach
process tooth
11. saliva a fluid containing water, protein, salts and often a tongue
starch-splitting enzyme that is secreted into the mouth trachea
by salivary glands villi
12. gallbladder organ where bile is stored
13. tooth one of the hard bony structures that are usually located
on the jaws of vertebrates and are used for seizing and chewing food
14. amylase the enzyme in saliva that breaks down starch into sugar
15. large intestine a short, wide tube in which water is absorbed from undigested food
16. villi finger-like structures that cover the inner wall of the small intestine
17. enzymes chemicals that break down food
18. mouth the opening through which food passes into the body
19. pancreas a gland that produces pancreatic juice
20. peristalsis squeezing motion that pushes food through the digestive system
21. rectum part of the body at the end of the large intestine where solid wastes are stored until
they leave the body; a straight muscle
22. chyme the partly fluid and partly solid mass of incompletely digested food that passes
from the stomach into the first part of the small intestine
23. salivary glands glands that produce saliva
24. small intestine a long, coiled tube in which food is digested and absorbed
25. tongue a muscle that works with the food and saliva to form a “ball”

Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom is a program of the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, the Oklahoma
Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry and the Oklahoma State Department of Education.