The Digestive System: "Biology." Scienceclasstemplate. N.P., N.D. Web. 29 Dec. 2014

The Digestive System
"Biology." Scienceclasstemplate. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Dec. 2014.

How is food digested?
http://www.passmyexams.co.uk/GCSE/biology/digestive-system-animation.html
Digestion involves:
■ Breaking down of food into smaller pieces
■ The mixing of food
■ Movement through the digestive tract
■ Chemical breakdown of the large
molecules of food into smaller molecules
■ Absorption of food molecules into the
blood stream.
"Biology." Scienceclasstemplate. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Dec. 2014.
Describe the digestive system
■ The digestive tract is a series of hollow
organs joined in a tube from the mouth to
the anus. Food passes through the
digestive tract.
■ Accessory organs include the liver, gall

bladder, and pancreas. Food does not
pass through these organs.
"Biology." Scienceclasstemplate. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Dec. 2014. IGCSE biology D. G.Mackean - Hodder Murray - 2009
Identify the organs of the digestive
system
Identify and tell the function of
each part of the digestive system
Mouth
■ Teeth bite off and chew food into a soft

pulp that is easy to swallow.
■ Chewing mixes the food with saliva, from

salivary glands around the mouth and
face, to make it moist and easy to
swallow.
Mouth
■ Enzymes in the saliva (salivary amylase)

begin digestion of carbohydrates.
■ Food chewed and mixed with saliva is
called bolus. It will be swallowed.
■ The beginning of swallowing is voluntary
but then it becomes a reflex action.
Esophagus
■ The esophagus is a muscular tube. It

takes food from the throat and pushes it
down through the neck, and into the
stomach.
■ It moves food by waves of muscle
contraction called peristalsis.
■ The epiglottis, a flap of cartilage, helps to
prevent the food to go down the trachea.
system
Stomach
■ The stomach has thick muscles in its wall.

These contract to mash the food into a water
soup called chyme.
■ The stomach lining produces strong digestive
juices (gastric juices) containing pepsin
(protease) and hydrochloric acid.
Stomach
■ Gastric juices create chemical reactions in the
stomach, breaking down and dissolving its
nutrients.
■ Pyloric sphincter is a circular band of muscle
that regulates the passage of the food into
the duodenum.
Stomach
■ Epithelium in the stomach is protected by the
mucus.
■ How long food remains in the stomach
depends on its nature (proteins and fats need
more time to be digested).
■ Acid pH is important for activation of pepsin
from pepsinogen.
system
Small Intestine
■ Duodenum + jejunum + ileum
■ This part of the digestive tract is narrow,
but very long – about 6 metres.
■ Enzymes continue the chemical reactions
on the food.
Small Intestine
■ Few enzymes are produced by epithelial cells
to complete digestion (maltase, lactase,
dipeptidase..).
■ Digestion is helped by pancreatic fluid and
bile
■ Ephitelium of small intestine forms villi: tiny
projections (epithelial cells have microvilli)
■ Villi + microvilli 🡪 large surface for
absorption
Small Intestine
■ The nutrients are broken down small

enough to pass through the lining of the
small intestine, and into the blood
(diffusion).
■ Nutrients are carried away to the liver and
other body parts to be processed, stored
and distributed.
http://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/picture-of-the-pancreas
Pancreas
■ Digestive gland
■ The pancreas, like the stomach, makes
digestive juice (pancreatic juice) containing
enzymes which help to digest food further
as it enters the small intestine.
■ Pancreatic juice contains: amylase, lipase
and hydrogencarbonate (for neutralizing
acid fluids from the stomach).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbh3SjzydnQ
Liver
■ Reddish-brown organ lying beneath the
diaphragm
■ Blood from the intestines enters the liver,
carrying nutrients, vitamins and minerals,
and other products from digestion.
Liver
■ The liver is like a food-processing factory

with more than 200 different jobs. It stores
some nutrients, changes them from one
form to another, and releases them into
the blood according to the activities and
needs of the body.
Liver
■ It regulates blood glucose: after a meal 🡪
glucose is stored as glycogen. Between meals
it is released in the bloodstream (100mg/0.1L)
■ Production of bile: bilirubin=pigment from the
breakdown of haemoglobin; bile salts.
■ Deamination: aa not used for proteins 🡪
glycogen+urea. Urea is excreted by the
kidneys.
Liver
■ Storage of iron from haemoglobin.
■ Synthesis of plasma proteins
■ Detoxication: poisonous compounds are
modified by the liver 🡪 excreted by the
kidneys
■ Storage of vitamins A and D
■ Liver helps to maintain the concentration and
composition of the body fluids
Gall Bladder
■ A small baglike part under the liver.
■ It stores a fluid called bile, which is made

in the liver.
Gall Bladder
■ As food from a meal enters the small

intestine, bile flows from the gall bladder
along the bile duct into the intestine.
■ It helps to digest fatty foods and also
contains wastes for removal.
system
Large Intestine: caecum + appendix

+ colon + sigma + rectum
■ Useful substances that were not

absorbed in the small intestine, such as
spare water and body minerals, are
absorbed through the walls of the large
intestine, back into the blood.
system
Large Intestine
■ Bacteria in the colon digest fibers

■ The remains are formed into brown,
semi-solid feces, ready to be removed
from the body
■ Appendix: immunological function
Rectum and Anus
■ The end of the large intestine and the next

part of the tract, the rectum, store the
feces.
■ Feces are finally squeezed through a ring

of muscle, the anus, and out of the body.
Final products of digestion
■ Starch 🡪 glucose
■ Proteins 🡪 amino acids
■ Fats 🡪 fatty acids and glycerol
These molecules pass into epithelial cells

and into the bloodstream (capillaries 🡪
veins 🡪 hepatic portal vein 🡪 liver 🡪
general blood circulation.
Control of secretion
■ The sight, smell and taste send impulses to
the brain 🡪 brain sends impulses to the
stomach and pancreas in order to initiate
secretion.
■ When food reaches the stomach 🡪 secretion
of gastrin hormone 🡪 stimulation of gastric
glands.
■ Pancreas is stimulated by nervous impulses
and then by secretin hormone produced by
duodenum cells.
http://highered.mheducation.com/sites/0072
495855/student_view0/chapter26/animati
on__organs_of_digestion.html

The Digestive System: "Biology." Scienceclasstemplate. N.P., N.D. Web. 29 Dec. 2014

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The Digestive System

"Biology." Scienceclasstemplate. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Dec. 2014.

■ Accessory organs include the liver, gall

■ Teeth bite off and chew food into a soft

■ Chewing mixes the food with saliva, from

■ Enzymes in the saliva (salivary amylase)

■ The esophagus is a muscular tube. It

■ The stomach has thick muscles in its wall.

■ The nutrients are broken down small

■ The liver is like a food-processing factory

■ A small baglike part under the liver.

■ It stores a fluid called bile, which is made

■ As food from a meal enters the small

Large Intestine: caecum + appendix

■ Useful substances that were not

■ Bacteria in the colon digest fibers

■ The end of the large intestine and the next

■ Feces are finally squeezed through a ring

These molecules pass into epithelial cells

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