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By Robert Goniea

EDU 290

12-3-2003

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The Digestive System

• Esophagus• Stomach• Small Intestine• Large Intestine• Liver• Gall Bladder• Pancreas

Let’s find out what happened to your lunch today!

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Esophagus

• Approximately 10” long

• Moves food from the throat to the stomach– Muscle movement

called peristalsis

• If acid from the stomach gets in here that’s heartburn.

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Stomach

• Stores the food you eat, breaks it down into tiny pieces

• Mixes food with digestive juices

• Acid in the stomach kills bacteria

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Small Intestine

• Small intestines are roughly 22 feet long

• Insides are coated with little ‘fingers’ called cilia to increase surface area.

• Nutrients from the food pass into the bloodstream through the small intestine walls.

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Large Intestine

• About 5 feet long• Accepts what small

intestines don’t absorb.

• Absorbs water and minerals from the waste matter.

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Liver

• Directly affects digestion by producing bile– Bile helps digest fat

• Processes nutrients in the blood, filters out toxins and waste.

• Is often called the body’s energy factory

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Gall Bladder

• Stores bile from the liver

• Delivers bile when food is digested

• Fatty diets can cause gallstones

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Pancreas

• Produces compounds to digest fats and proteins

• Neutralizes acids that enter small intestine

• Regulates blood sugar by producing insulin

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Fun Facts

• HOW LONG ARE YOUR INTESTINES? At least 25 feet in an adult. Be glad you're not a full-grown horse -- their coiled-up intestines are 89 feet long!

• Food drying up and hanging out in the large intestine can last 18 hours to 2 days!

• In your lifetime, your digestive system may handle about 50 tons!!

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On a sheet of paper, write the name of each colored organ:

• Green:• Red:• Pink:• Brown:• Purple:• Green:• Yellow:

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How’d you do?

• Green: Esophagus• Red: Stomach• Pink: Small Intestine• Brown: Large Intestine• Purple: Liver• Green: Gall Bladder• Yellow: Pancreas

Great Job!

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References and Links

• Your Digestive System and How It Works– Digestive system diagram comes from this site

• The Real Deal on the Digestive System• Pancreas: Introduction and Index• Your Gross and Cool Body - Digestive System