Digestion is a messy process, and so was this project. The Fabulous Fifth Grade posted a digestive system activity that went well with the book The Way We Work by David Macaulay which we have been using as a guide for our human body science study.
As food travels through the digestive system it is broken down into ingredients our bodies can use. The process begins in the mouth when teeth crush food and saliva is used to begin the breakdown process. From there it travels through the esophagus into the stomach. In the stomach, acid is added to the food, and mashing continues with the stomach muscles. Next it travels into the duodenum where bile juice from the gall bladder and pancreatic juice from the pancreas are added to breakdown fats and carbohydrates. Then the long journey through the small intestine begins followed by a trip to the colon and out of the body.
First we laid out a model of the digestive system.
The bowl with the crackers = mouth and food
Leg of pantyhose = esophagus
Waist of pantyhose = stomach
Glass of vinegar and lemon juice = stomach acid used in digestion
Short second leg of pantyhose = duodenum
Blue yarn = 20 feet of small intestine
Separate section of pantyhose = colon
Avocado = gall bladder
Shot glass of lime juice = bile made in the liver and stored in the gall bladder
Green glass beads = pancreas
Shot glass of tomato juice = pancreatic juice
Then we put it to work!
The crackers were crushed with the fork "teeth" with added water "saliva".
The mixture was sent into the esophagus and to the stomach.
Acid was added.
The mixture was mashed.
As it entered the duodenum bile and pancreas juice were added, and it was mashed some more.
Come back next week when we explore the liver.
This post is linked to:
Look What We Did
Fourth Grade Flipper
Montessori Monday
Relentlessly Fun
Trivium Tuesdays
Hip Homeschool Hop
True Aim Education
0 comments:
Post a Comment