GEN.

BIOLOGY 2
Content Standard: Plant and Animal Organ Systems

Q3 – Lesson 3: Processes in Plants and Animals:

Nutrition
ACTIVITY 1: Pre-Activity
Learning Competency:
Compare and contrast the following processes in plants and animals:
Nutrition. (STEM_BIO11/12-IVa-h-1)

Specific Learning Outcomes:

At the end of the lesson, the learners will be able to:
1. define nutrient and cite the nutritional requirements of plants and
animals
2. enumerate and describe the main stages of food processing;

3. describe the organs involved in food processing in the human digestive

system and their roles;

4. summarize the mechanisms of digestion, absorption, and delivery of

nutrients into cells;
PLANT NUTRITION
Nutrient – refers to any substance required for the growth and
maintenance of an organism. The two types of organisms based
on the mode of nutrition are:

A. autotrophs – organisms that obtain energy from sunlight and

chemicals to produce their own food. Examples: plants;
chemosynthetic bacteria.

B. heterotrophs – organisms that cannot make their own food

and obtain their energy from other organisms. Examples:
animals, fungi.
The nutritional requirements of plants:
• water
• carbon dioxide
A. Further, note that water and carbon dioxide are the raw
materials needed for.

B. photosynthesis, the process by which plants convert the

energy from sunlight into • chemical energy.

C. essential nutrients or elements – which include

macronutrients which are normally required in amounts above
0.5% of the plant’s dry weight; and micronutrients which are
required in minute or trace amounts; • examples of
macronutrients: C, H, O, N, K, Ca, Mg, P, S
examples of micronutrients: Cl, Fe, B, Mn, Zn, Co, Mo
The routes for the absorption of
water and minerals across plant
roots:

A. symplast route – through

plasmodesmata

B. apoplast route – along cell

walls

• Note that the water and

minerals from the soil need to
reach the conducting tissues of
plants, specifically the xylem
ANIMAL NUTRITION
• A Calorie is a unit of energy that indicates the amount of energy contained in food. It
specifically refers to the amount of heat energy required to raise the temperature of
1 kg (2.2 lb.) of water by 1oC (1.8oF). The greater the number of Calories in a
quantity of food, the greater energy it contains (Johnson and Raven, 1996).

THE NUTRITIONAL REQUIREMENTS OF ANIMALS:

• Carbohydrates – serve as a major energy source for the cells in the body. These
are usually obtained from grains, cereals, breads, fruits, and vegetables. On average,
carbohydrates contain 4 Calories per gram.

• Proteins – can also be used as an energy source but the body mainly uses these as
building materials for cell structures and as enzymes, hormones, parts of muscles,
and bones. Proteins come from dairy products, poultry, fish, meat, and grains. Like
carbohydrates, proteins also contain 4 Calories per gram.
• Fats – are used to build cell membranes, steroid
hormones, and other cellular structures; also used to
insulate nervous tissue, and also serve as an energy
source. Fats also contain certain fat- soluble vitamins
that are important for good health. Fats are obtained
from oils, margarine, butter, fried foods, meat, and
processed snack foods. They contain a higher amount
of energy per gram than carbohydrates or proteins,
about 9 Calories per gram.
Essential Nutrients – include substances that animals can only get
from the foods they eat because they could not be synthesized inside
the body. These include:

• Essential amino acids – needed for synthesis of proteins and

enzymes; among the 20 amino acids, eight could not be synthesized
by humans: lysine, tryptophan, threonine, methionine, phenylalanine,
leucine, isoleucine and valine.

• Essential fatty acids – used for making special membrane lipids; an

example is linoleic acid in humans.

• Vitamins – organic molecules required in small amounts for normal

metabolism; examples include fat-soluble Vitamins A, D, E, K, and
water-soluble Vitamins B, B2, B3, B12, C.
THE MAIN STAGES OF FOOD PROCESSING:
1. Ingestion – the act of eating or feeding; this is coupled with the
mechanical breakdown of food into smaller pieces allowing for a greater
surface area for chemical digestion.

2. Digestion – breakdown of food into particles, then into nutrient molecules

small enough to be Chemical digestion by enzymes involves breaking of
chemical bonds through the addition of water, i.e., enzymatic hydrolysis

3. Absorption – passage of digested nutrients and fluid across the tube wall
and into the body fluids; the cells take up (absorb) small molecules such as
amino acids and simple sugars.
4. Elimination –expulsion of the undigested and unabsorbed materials from
the end of the gut.
THE ORGANS INVOLVED IN FOOD PROCESSING IN THE HUMAN
DIGESTIVE SYSTEM:
A. The Oral Cavity, Pharynx, and Esophagus
• Oral Cavity – it is where food is initially chewed into shreds by the teeth,
and mixed with saliva by the tongue. Saliva is secreted into the mouth by
three pairs of salivary glands located above the upper jaw and below the
lower jaw.
• Pharynx –the region in the back of the throat that serves as the entrance to
the esophagus that connects to the stomach and trachea (windpipe) that
serves as airway to the lungs. To block breathing as food leaves the
pharynx, a flap-like valve (the epiglottis) and the vocal cords close off the
trachea.
• Esophagus – connects the pharynx with the stomach. No digestion takes
place within the esophagus but the contractions within its muscular wall
propel the food past a sphincter, into the stomach. The rhythmic waves of
contraction of the smooth muscle wall of the esophagus are called peristaltic
contractions or peristalsis. The esophagus is about 25 cm (10 in.) long.
B. The Stomach
The stomach is a muscular, stretchable sac located just below the
diaphragm. It has three important functions.
➢ First, it mixes and stores ingested food.
➢ Second, it secretes gastric juice that helps dissolve and degrade
the food, particularly proteins.
➢ Third, it regulates the passage of food into the small intestine.
• The gastric juice is a combination of HCl and acid-stable
proteases.
• The churning action of the stomach together with the potent
acidity of the gastric juice convert food into a thick, liquid mixture
called chyme.
C. Small Intestine
• The small intestine is approximately 6 meters long and is composed of
three regions: the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum.

• It is where most enzymatic hydrolysis of the macromolecules from food

occurs. The complete digestion of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins occurs
in the duodenum, about the first 25 cm. of the small intestine.

• The rest of the small intestine is devoted to absorbing water and the
products of digestion into the bloodstream.

• Absorption of the end products of digestion takes place in the ileum, the
surface area of which is increased by villi and microvilli.
D. The Accessory Digestive Organs

• Pancreas, Liver, and Gallbladder – review the functions discussed in

previous meeting.

• The Large Intestine or Colon o The large intestine is much shorter than
the small intestine, about 1 meter.

• It concentrates and stores undigested matter by absorbing mineral ions

and water. A small amount of fluid, sodium, and vitamin K are absorbed
through its walls.

• Unlike the small intestine, it does not coil up and does not have villi and
has only one thirtieth of the absorptive surface area of the small intestine.

• Many bacteria live and thrive within the large intestine where they help
process undigested material into the final excretory product, feces.
The Rectum and Anus

• The rectum is a short extension of the large intestine and is the

final segment of the digestive tract. It is where the compacted
undigested food from the colon are pushed via peristaltic
contractions.

• The distention of the rectum triggers expulsion of feces.

• The anus is the terminal opening of the digestive system through

which feces are expelled.
Activity 2: Match each function with its corresponding part.
A. Anus
B. Esophagus
C. Gallbladder
1. The region of the large intestine
D. Large Intestine
that stores the feces until it E. Liver
expelled. F. Mouth
G. Pancreas
2. The muscular organ that mixes H. Pyloric Sphincter
I. Pharynx
food with gastric fluid secreted by J. Rectum
its lining. K. Small Intestine
L. Stomach
Activity 2: Match each function with its corresponding part.
A. Anus
B. Esophagus
3. The organ that receives bile C. Gallbladder
from the liver and expels it into the D. Large Intestine
small intestine. E. Liver
F. Mouth
G. Pancreas
4. The organ that produces bile, H. Pyloric Sphincter
stores glycogen and detoxifies I. Pharynx
many substances. J. Rectum
K. Small Intestine
L. Stomach
Activity 2: Match each function with its corresponding part.
A. Anus
B. Esophagus
5. The longest portion of the C. Gallbladder
digestive tract and the site of most D. Large Intestine
digestion and absorption. E. Liver
F. Mouth
G. Pancreas
6. The organ that secretes H. Pyloric Sphincter
digestive enzymes into small I. Pharynx
intestine and hormones into the J. Rectum
K. Small Intestine
blood.
L. Stomach
Activity 2: Match each function with its corresponding part.
A. Anus
7. The organ that concentrates and B. Esophagus
store wastes. C. Gallbladder
D. Large Intestine
E. Liver
8. The longest portion of large F. Mouth
intestine. G. Pancreas
H. Pyloric Sphincter
I. Pharynx
9. It is where mechanical and J. Rectum
chemical digestion takes place. K. Small Intestine
L. Stomach
Activity 2: Match each function with its corresponding part.
A. Anus
B. Esophagus
C. Gallbladder
10. It is were feces are released. D. Large Intestine
E. Liver
F. Mouth
11. This is the entrance to both G. Pancreas
digestive and respiratory tract. H. Pyloric Sphincter
I. Pharynx
J. Rectum
K. Small Intestine
L. Stomach
Activity 3. Complete the Table

Organ / Gland Digestive Juice Function

Salivary Gland Changes starch
to sugar
Gastric Juice Gastric Juice
Small Intestine
Pancreatic Juice Digests fats
Activity 4: Post Activity
1. Give three examples of nutrient deficiencies in plants and
the corresponding symptoms.

2. Research on examples of parasitic plants and predator

plants. Give an example for each. What structural
adaptations are present in these plants that allow them to
acquire nutrition through parasitism and predation?

3. What contributes to the absorption capacity of the small

intestine?