ACTIVITY 4

1. INGESTION - Ingestion is the process of taking in food through the mouth. In vertebrates, the
teeth, saliva, and tongue play important roles in mastication (preparing the food into bolus).
While the food is being mechanically broken down, the enzymes in saliva begin to chemically
process the food as well

2. DIGESTION - Digestion is the complex process of turning the food you eat into nutrients, which
the body uses for energy, growth and cell repair needed to survive. The digestion process also
involves creating waste to be eliminated.

3. ABSORPTION - Absorption is the process by which the nutrients in food are passed on to the
blood. The majority of absorption occurs in the small intestine, the digestive tract ’s primary
organ. Villi are an important part of the digestive system, as they gather nutrients from the food
being processed.

4. ASSIMILATION - Assimilation is the movement of digested food molecules into the cells of the
body where they are used. For example: The liver is important in assimilation. For example, it
converts glucose into glycogen (a complex carbohydrate used for storage) and amino acids into
proteins. The liver is involved in the process of deamination.

5. EXCREATION - The process of removing waste materials like urea, uric acid, carbon dioxide,
etc from our body is called excretion. Digestion can be defined as the process of mechanical and
chemical breakdown of ingested complex food into simpler ones. This note provides information
about excretion and digestive system in living organisms.