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By Robert Goniea
EDU 290
12-3-2003
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The Digestive System
• Esophagus• Stomach• Small Intestine• Large Intestine• Liver• Gall Bladder• Pancreas
Let’s find out what happened to your lunch today!
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Esophagus
• Approximately 10” long
• Moves food from the throat to the stomach– Muscle movement
called peristalsis
• If acid from the stomach gets in here that’s heartburn.
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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
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Small Intestine
• Small intestines are roughly 22 feet long
• 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.
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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.
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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
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Gall Bladder
• Stores bile from the liver
• Delivers bile when food is digested
• Fatty diets can cause gallstones
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Pancreas
• Produces compounds to digest fats and proteins
• Neutralizes acids that enter small intestine
• Regulates blood sugar by producing insulin
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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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How’d you do?
• 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– Digestive system diagram comes from this site
• The Real Deal on the Digestive System• Pancreas: Introduction and Index• Your Gross and Cool Body - Digestive System