SENSE OF TOUCH (SKIN)…..

1. The skin is the sensory organ of touch.

2. The skin responds to heat, cold pressure, touch, and pain stimuli. Five types of nerve endings
(receptors) are found beneath the skin.These receptors are sensitive to the stimuli mentioned.

3. When the receptor is stimulated, the information (impulse) is sent through the nerves to the
brains for interpretation (or evalution).

4. The sensitivity of the skins depends on the :

(a)thickness of the epidermis

- the thinner the epidermis, the more sensitive the skin is to the stimulus

(b)number of receptor present

-the more receptors found on the skin the more sensitive is that part of the skin

5. The parts of the body that have thin epidermis and many receptors sensitive to touch are

(a) lips

(b) fingertips

(c) area behind ears

(d) armpit

(e) the back of the neck

6. the parts of the body that are not so sensitive to touch are the

(a) elbow

(b) knee

(c) palm of the hand and sole of the foot

(d) buttocks
7. The parts of the body usually chosen by the doctor for injection are along the upper arm and
the buttocks. This is because these parts have thick epidermis and fewer receptors.

8. Braille is a code made up of small raised dots on paper. Blind people use their sense of touch
to read Braille.
SENSE OF SMELL (NOSE)…...
1. The nose is the sensory organ for smell.

2. Cells sensitive to smell (smell receptors) are found on the top of the nasal cavity.

3. The nose detects smell in the following way.

The inside lining of the nasal cavity produces mucus.

The chemical vapour entering the nose during breathing

dissolves chemical stimulates the smell receptors

at the top of the nasal cavity.

The smell receptors then produce impulse which are sent

through the nerves to the brain.

The brain interprets/ evalutes the smell.

4. When we have a cold or flu, a lot of mucus produced. The smell receptor are surrounded by
this thick layer of mucus and very little of the chemical vapour to the smell receptors.
Therefore, the smell receptors do not get stimuled enough to effectively function as a sensory
organ of smell.
SENSE OF TASTE (TONGUE)…
1. The tongue is the sensory organ for taste.

2. The surface of the tongue has groups of cells known as taste buds which are sensitive to
taste.

3. There are four types of taste buds on the tongue sensitive to sweet, bitter, sour and salty
tastes.

4. The tongue detect taste in the following way:

The chemical substances in food dissolve in the saliva and stimulate the taste

buds.

The taste buds send impulses to the brain.

The brain interprets the impulses received.

5. The sense of smell helps the sense of taste. This explains why food does not taste appetizing
when we have a cold or flu because we cannot smell effectively.
DIGESTIVE SYSTEM…
1. The digestive system consists of all the organs in the body that help in the digestion of food.

2. The alimentary canal is made up of the mouth, oesophagus, stomach , small intestine, anus
(starts from the mouth and ends at the anus).

3. Food push along the alimentary canal by the muscular walls that contract and expand
alternately through the process of peristalsis.

MOUTH

1 Food is chewed and broken up into small pieces by the teeth.

2. Small pieces of food have a wide surface area for the saliva to act upon.

3. The salivary gland secrets saliva that is alkaline and contains salivary amylase enzymes (ptailin).

4. Salivary amylase digests starch into maltose (sugar).

OESOPHAGUS

1. Food is pushed through the oesophagus into the stomach by the alternating muscular
contraction and relaxation of the oesophagus.

2. This process of alternating muscular contraction and relaxation is known as peristalsis.

3. No digestion takes place in the oesophagus because there are no digestive enzymes secreted.

STOMACH

1. Food is mixed with gastric juices in the stomach.

2. Gastric juices are secreted from the cells of the stomach wall. Gastric juices contain…..

(a) hydrochloric acid.

(b) enzymes (rennin and pepsin).

3. The functions of hydrochloric acid include:

(a) providing an acidic medium for enzymic action.

(b) killing bacteria found in food

(c) neautralising the alkaline property of saliva and stopping the action of salivary amylase
peptones.

4.Pepsin digest proteins into peptones.

5.Rennin coagulates milk in the stomach to help in the enzymic action of pepsin.

SMALL INTESTINE
1. The duodenum is the first part of small intestine.

2. The duodenum receive bile and pancreatic juice.

3. Bile is produced by the liver and is stored in the gall bladder. The bile flows from the gall
bladder into the duodenum through the bile duct. The functions of bile are:

(a) emulsification of fat i.e. breaking up large fatty globules into small droplets for enzymic
action.

(b) preparation of an alkaline medium for enzymic action.

4. Pancreatic juice, which is produced by the pancreas cells, contains three types of enzymes
protease and lipase.

5. The pancreatic amylase digests starch into maltose.

6. The protease digests peptones into amino acids.

7. The lipase digests fat into fatty acid and glycerol.

8. The small intestine (ileum) produces enzymes which digests maltose into glucose (simple
sugar).
9. Digestion is completed in the small intestine.

10. The digested food is then ready to be absorbed through the thin walls of the small intestine
into the bloodstream.

LARGE INTESTINE

1. Water is reabsorbed in the large intestine (colon).

2. Undigested food is expelled from the body through the anus as faeces.