Digestive System

The digestive system begins in your mouth where the tongue and teeth work together to break up the food.  A watery liquid called saliva makes the food wet and soft, and it has a chemical that helps digest the food.

As you swallow the food goes down a tube called the esophagus.  This tube goes into your stomach.  The stomach is a large muscle that stirs up the food.  More liquids and chemicals help digest the food.

After the food has been ground and stirred in the stomach it moves to the intestines.  The intestines are very long and coiled up.  If you stretch them out, they would be longer than you are tall.  Adults intestines are almost twenty-seven feet long.  The narrow part of the intestine is called the small intestine.  The bigger part is called the large intestine.

In the small intestine, the food is mixed with more chemicals and liquids.  The pieces of food become very small; too small to see.  These very small pieces are called nutrients and are absorbed into the blood.  The blood carries these nutrients to all parts of the body.

Blood passes through the body and goes through another organ in the digestive system.  This organ is called the liver.  It is on the right side of the body near the lowest rib.  One job of the liver is to clean the blood.  The liver also sends liquids and chemicals to the small intestine.

Some of the food is left in the small intestine and cannot be digested.  It is then passed to the large intestine.  It leaves the body through a little hole called the anus when you go to the bathroom.

The liquids the body does not use are also carried away.  Blood carries good nutrients and waste through the body.  The waste goes through two organs called the kidneys.  The kidneys help clean the blood.  The watery liquid not used is called urine.  The urine goes into a little bag called the bladder.  Urine leaves the bladder when it is pushed out of the bladder through a tube called the urethra.

Directions: Answer the questions to learn about the digestive system.