Adil, Bernadette T.

BSN - 1C

IV. Laboratory Exercises

Before you begin the activities, do the following:

o Read the chapter on digestive system in your textbook/module or go to
https://www.visiblebody.com/learn/digestive
o Scan the objectives you are expected to accomplish during this laboratory session.
o Prepare the materials needed:
• illustration of the digestive system • water or juice
• two pieces of regular crackers • • a loaf/slice of bread
ziplock or sandwich bag

Activity 1. Crackers in the Mouth! (Adapted from Teach With Fergy, 2013).

In doing this activity, you need two pieces of regular crackers.

Step 1. Put a regular cracker into your mouth and chew. Record what it tastes like. (Was
it sweet? Plain? Hard? Soft? Etc.)
- Initially, it was plain and had a little sweetness in flavor and was hard and as
I chewed it it was crispy.

Step 2. Place a new cracker in your mouth and let it sit for 1.5 minutes before chewing.
While doing step 2, answer the following questions:

1. What does it feel like initially? - It was hard and I can still taste the flavor of the

cracker.

2. What it feels like after 1 minute in your mouth? - I can feel the saliva piling up

inside my mouth and the taste of the cracker is not the same as before and the

cracker became mushy.

3. What it feels like after 1.5 minutes in your mouth? - It became very soft and mushy.

4. What it feels like when you chew it? - it was so soft and no matter how hard I chew

the cracker became so mushy that there is no point in chewing it anymore.

5. What was the main texture (feeling) difference in your mouth between chewing right
away and waiting 1.5 minutes before swallowing it? - The main difference is the
hardness when I chew it right away and the softness when I let it sit inside my
 mouth for 1.5 mins before I swallow, nevertheless both process still help me to
swallow the food.

This cracker activity shows clearly what happens the moment you ingest the food until it
passes into your small intestine. When the cracker is ingested in your mouth, your saliva which
contains the salivary amylase, starts to break the bonds holding the cracker together as well as
mix with it. This makes the cracker softer and easier to swallow. The act of chewing (or
mastication) helps to break the cracker into smaller pieces so that it’s easier to swallow. Breaking
the food you eat into smaller pieces also increases the surface area, therefore, makes chemical
digestion more efficient.

To understand further the essential processes of the digestive system, do the next activity.

Activity 2. The Bread in the Bag! (Adapted from Teach With Fergy, 2013).

In doing this activity (individually or in group), you need a ziplock or sandwich bag,
water or juice, and a loaf/slice of bread.

Step 1. Take 1 piece of bread and then rip it in half (you may give the other half to a
classmate).

Step 2. Tear your ½ slice of bread into smaller pieces and place it into your sandwich
bag. What does this represent? The ripping of bread into half using our hands
represents mechanical breakdown.

Step 3. Pour a small amount of water or juice into the bag. What does it represent? The
water or juice represents the Hydrochloric Acid inside the stomach. This is the
process of chemical digestion.

Step 4. Close your bag and squish the bread with your fingers until all of the pieces are
really small. What does this represent? This represents the churning action of the
stomach.

Step 5. Drain the liquid contents down the sink by creating a small opening which
prevents the solids from escaping and compare it with an undrained sample.
What stage of digestion does this represent? This process represents absorption of nutrients.

Step 6. Put all of the contents of the bag into the garbage bin. What does this represent?
This represents defecation.

Are you done with Activity 2? If yes, job well done!

Activity 2 shows you the following: a) how your stomach works to break apart the bonds
holding the bread together through mechanical breakdown and chemical digestion so that the
nutrients can be absorbed, b) how your large intestine recovers water and electrolytes from the
food, and c) how your rectum stores the waste temporarily before it exits the body.

Step 2 represents a mechanical breakdown that takes place inside your mouth with the
help of your teeth and tongue. Step 3 represents the chemical digestion as the food is submerged
in the hydrochloric acid (HCl) of your stomach. The HCl helps in the chemical digestion of
proteins. Aside from chemical digestion, mechanical breakdown also takes place in your stomach
as represented in Step 4. The churning action of the muscles in your stomach wall breaks the
food particles that you swallowed into smaller sizes and mixes them with your gastric juices.
Step 5 represents the absorption of nutrients by your small intestine, and the absorption of water
and electrolytes by your large intestine. This absorptive function of your large intestine is
important in maintaining fluid balance in your body. The residue that remains become your feces
(waste) that is temporarily stored in your rectum, as represented in Step 6, until defecation takes
place.

To understand further about the essential processes, you may read any textbook on human
anatomy and physiology or view a video at https://youtu.be/WWpRX7g_qvo.

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THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM

V. Laboratory Report Sheet/Checklist (to be submitted at the end of the activity/ies)

A. Define the following underlined terms in activity 1 and 2.

1. Ingest - Consumption of substances.
2. Salivary amylase - a glucose-polymer cleavage enzyme that is produced by the
salivary glands.
3. Mechanical breakdown - physically breaking down food substances into smaller
particles to more efficiently undergo chemical digestion.
4. Chemical digestion - further degrade the molecular structure of the ingested
compounds by digestive enzymes into a form that is absorbable into the bloodstream.
5. Hydrochloric acid - breaks down the food and the digestive enzymes split up the
proteins.
6. Gastric juices - Gastric juice is a unique combination of hydrochloric acid (HCl),
lipase, and pepsin, Their functions are: Hydrochloric acid in the stomach is used to
make the medium acidic to facilitate the action of the enzyme pepsin and to kill germs
if any. Enzyme pepsin digests proteins and converts them into peptones. The mucus
helps to protect the stomach wall from its own secretions of hydrochloric acid.
7. Absorption -The process of the simple molecules that result from chemical digestion
pass through cell membranes of the lining in the small intestine into the blood or lymph
capillaries
8. Defecation - the act of expelling feces from the digestive tract via the anus

B. What are the essential processes involved in the digestion of food? - There are 6, (1)
ingestion, (2) propulsion, (3) mechanical breakdown. (4) chemical digestion, (5)
absorption, and (6) defecation.

C. What are the other gastric juices (aside from hydrochloric acid) and enzymes (aside
from salivary amylase) involved in the digestion of food? - pepsin, lipase, renin

D. Label the figure below.

an
Figure 35. The Digestive System

Name of Student: Adil, Bernadette T. Year & Section: BSN - 1C Date of Submission: _______

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