Digestive System

Key Stage 2

A diagram of the digestive system.

The digestive system is the parts of the body that we use to get nutrients out of our food.

The digestive system breaks food down into small pieces.

The small pieces can then be absorbed into the body.

The bits the body does not need leave the body as faeces.

The digestive system is made up of several parts:

A diagram of the digestive system.

The digestive system is an organ system that breaks down food for absorption into the blood.

The digestive system breaks down food mechanically and chemically before absorbing nutrients into the blood.

The digestive system takes large insoluble molecules and breaks them down into small soluble molecules to be absorbed.

There are several organs in the digestive system you should know:

Mouth - Breaks down food mechanically with teeth and adds saliva using the salivary glands to make food easier to swallow.
Oesophagus - Uses peristalsis to move food from the mouth to the stomach.
Stomach - Starts chemical digestion of food in an acidic environment.
Liver - Makes bile to neutralise stomach acid and break down fat.
Pancreas - Makes enzymes to chemically digest food.
Small Intestine - Absorbs food into the blood through villi
Large Intestine - Absorbs water from undigested food called faeces.
Rectum - Stores faeces before egestion.
Anus - A ring of muscle that holds faeces in.

These are all human organs which may look different in different mammals.

The mouth is an organ is used to start digestion of food.	The oesophagus is an organ that connects the mouth to the stomach.	The stomach is an organ that digests food.

In the digestive system the liver produces bile which neutralises the acid from the stomach and helps break down fat.	In the digestive system the pancreas produces enzymes to chemically break down food.	The small intestine absorbs nutrients. The large intestine absorbs water. The rectum stores faeces. The anus holds the faeces in.

A diagram of the digestive system.

The digestive system is an organ system that breaks down food for absorption into the blood.

The digestive system breaks down food mechanically and chemically before absorbing nutrients into the blood.

The digestive system takes large insoluble molecules and breaks them down into small soluble molecules to be absorbed.

There are several organs in the digestive system you should know:

Mouth - Breaks down food mechanically with teeth and adds saliva using the salivary glands to lubricate the food for it to be swallowed.
Oesophagus - Uses peristalsis to move food from the mouth to the stomach.
Stomach - Starts chemical digestion of food in an acidic environment adding a protease called pepsin which breaks down proteins into amino acids.
Liver - Makes bile to neutralise stomach acid and emulsify fat.
Pancreas - Makes digestive enzymes including pancreatic amylase, trypsin (which is a type of protease and lipase.
Small Intestine - Continues the chemical digestion of food using the enzymes from the pancreas as well as producing its own amylase and peptidase. It then absorbs food into the blood through villi
Large Intestine - Absorbs water from undigested food called faeces.
Rectum - Stores faeces before egestion.
Anus - A ring of muscle that holds faeces in.

These are all human organs which may look different in different mammals.

The mouth is an organ is used to start digestion of food.	The oesophagus is an organ that connects the mouth to the stomach.	The stomach is an organ that digests food.

In the digestive system the liver produces bile which neutralises the acid from the stomach and helps break down fat.	In the digestive system the pancreas produces enzymes to chemically break down food.	The small intestine absorbs nutrients. The large intestine absorbs water. The rectum stores faeces. The anus holds the faeces in.