Question | Answer |
What is another name for the digestive system? | G. I. System (Gastrointestinal System) |
What is the digestive tract, G. I. tract or alimentary canal? | The path "food" actually travels through your body. |
What are the parts of the digestive system? | Mouth, teeth, tongue, salivary glands, pharynx, epiglottis, esophagus, stomach, liver, pancreas, small intestine, large intestine, anus, etc... |
What are the parts of the digestive tract? | mouth, pharynx, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine and anus. |
How does food move from your mouth to the stomach? | It travels down the esophagus being pushed by peristalsis. |
What is peristalsis? | Peristalsis is a muscle controlled wave like movement that forces the food being digested along the digestive tract. |
Does the "ball" of chewed food you swallow have a name? | Yes! Bolus. |
What is digestion? | The act of breaking down food into small enough pieces to be used by the body. |
Are there different types of digestion? | Yes! Mechanical (or physical) and Chemical. |
What kind of digestion takes place in your mouth, physical or chemical? | Both! Your teeth and tongue break apart food physically while your saliva has enzymes that break food down chemically. |
What is the pharynx? | The "fancy" name for your throat. I has only one job keep things out of it, either gag or swallow! |
What keeps food and drinks from entering your larynx or wind pipe? | The epiglottis. |
Can you swallow upside down? Explain. | Yes, because of peristalsis! This muscular movement pushes "food" through your digestive tract. |
How does food get from the pharynx to the stomach? | Through the esophagus. |
What happens in the stomach? | Muscles and hydrochloric acid mix the "food" into chyme. It takes 3-6 hours to happen. |
Why doesn't hydrochloric acid hurt the stomach? | The stomach has a mucus lining that protects it. The lining is replaced every 3 days. |
What happens if the Hydrochloric acid gets past the valve at the top of the stomach and goes up into the esophagus? | It hurts and causes heart burn and damage to the esophagus if it happens often. |
What happens to the chyme when it leaves the stomach? | It enters the small intestines where other chemicals are added to it, like bile from the liver and insulin from the pancreas. |
Tell me about the small intestine. | It is the longest part of the G.I. tract at about 21ft. It also is lined with villi that allow the nutrients to be absorbed from the chyme. |
Why doesn't the small intestine get damaged by the hydrochloric acid? | The pancreas releases another chemical that neutralizes the acid. |
Does chyme leave the body after the small intestine? | No, it now is pushes into the large intestine. Not as long but wider this is where moisture is absorbed and waste called feces is formed. |
The large intestine has bacteria in it? | Yes, hundreds of species of bacteria, these can cause gas and make vitamins for us. |
When digestion is finished does feces just come out of the anus? | No! Thank goodness, feces is stored in the rectum and is released when the anal sphincter feels pressure and allows it to leave. |