Digestive System

An Actual View into Your Digestive System! Chemical vs Mechanical Digestion Mechanical digestion physically breaks food down into smaller pieces. The molecules within the food does not change. This process includes chewing and churning food. Chemical digestion breaks chemical bonds in food. In the process, enzymes or digestive juices are used to produce new molecules that the body can use.Using this and your notes, determine what each organ does for digestion and whether it has mechanical digestion, chemical digestion, both types, or neither. Organ How does it help digestion? Mechanical or Chemical or Both or None? Mouth Rips food into smaller pieces with teeth and saliva breaks down starch Both Esophagus Moves food from mouth to stomach with peristalsis None Stomach Churns food and breaks down food molecules with acid Both Small Intestine With help from accessory organs breaks down food molecules until the nutrients can be absorbed into the blood Chemical Large Intestine Absorbs water and gets rid of the waste, feces None Accessory Organs The digestive system also includes some accessory organs.. Food doesn’t pass through these organs but they help digestion by delivering fluids to the digestive tract that help break down food which is why they are considered an accessory. The accessories are (1) the salivary glands which moisten food and begin chemical digestion of starches (2) the liver which creates bile for fat digestion, detoxifies blood, and processes absorbed vitamins, (3) the gallbladder which stores bile produced by the liver and brings it to the small intestine for chemical digestion, and (4) the pancreas which secretes (releases) pancreatic juices into the small intestine to help digestion of proteins and carbohydrates Accessory Organ Job Pancreas Sends digestive juices to the small intestine to digest food into absorbable molecules Salivary Glands Creates digestive enzymes in the mouth to breakdown starch Gall Bladder Stores and sends bile to the small intestine Liver Makes bile to digest fat molecules Digestive System Labeling 1=small intestine2=esophagus3=gall bladder4=large intestine5=mouth6=pancreas7=rectum