Everyone Poops! The Digestive System By Stephanie Siltanen

Where does the digestive system begin? It starts in your mouth as you smell your favorite food and your mouth begins producing saliva. Pizza-712w.jpg content/uploads/spaghetti_bolognese_simple.jp g b/4/4d/Cheeseburger.jpg/800px-Cheeseburger.jpg

What does it do? Your body gets nutrients from the food that you eat. The digestive system helps your body absorb these nutrients. mages/flash_plate.jpg

The Parts The digestive system starts in your mouth and ends... you know where. Each part has a crucial part in helping your body absorb nutrients and get rid of waste. 06/05/digestion_good2.jpg

In the mouth Saliva (spit) helps break down food to create a small mushy wad of food, that is easier to swallow. The tongue pushes the mushy food down the throat & into the esophagus. PreviewComp/SuperStock_1555R jpg

Esophagus Moves food from your throat to your stomach. The muscles in your throat move in a wavy movement to slowly move the food through the esophagus. 2-3 second process

Also in the throat The esophagus has a flap called the epiglottis that closes your airways when you swallow to make sure that food does not go into your windpipe. If you drink something fast and someone says “it went down the wrong pipe” they are referring that the liquid went down your windpipe on accident.

Next stop, the stomach Jobs of the stomach: Store food Break down food into a liquid mixture with stomach acid Slowly move the liquid into the small intestine.

Still in the stomach The stomach acts like a blender, using the strong stomach muscles and gastric juices to create a liquid mixture to send to the small intestine. These juices also kill bacteria! blender-6811.jpg

The (not so) small intestine The average adult small intestine is 22 ft long (4 of me)! Breaks down food even more so that the body can absorb the nutrients from your food. (Such as the calcium from the cheese on your pizza)‏ Food can spend up to 4 hours in the intestine juice bath.

Small intestine helpers The liver, gallbladder, and pancreas send juices to the small intestine to help the body absorb the nutrients. Pancreas juices help digest fat and protein Liver juices (bile) helps the blood stream absorb fat Gallbladder stores the bile until the body needs it.

The liver Your liver filters out waste from nutrients. Distributes nutrients to the rest of the body or stores some vitamins.

Where do the left overs go? The large intestine Thicker than the small intestine. 5 ft long. The waste left over after the body has absorbed the nutrients begins its final journey exiting the body.

Parts of the large intestine The appendix is a part of the large intestine that doesn't do anything but cause problems. Passes through the colon, the last chance for the body to absorb water and minerals into the blood. As the last of the water is absorbed, the waste turns into a solid called POOP! (or bowel or stool).

Move it along The large intestine pushes the solid into the rectum. The poop stays here until you find a restroom.

You're out of here! The poop exits through the anus. And it leaves with a flush...

Helpful tips Drink water Eat healthy foods such as whole wheat, fiber, fruits, and vegetables To help your body digest your food easily

References Kids Health for Kids. Steven Dowshen March em.html Information retained on February 15, em.html Discovery Kids website html

Questions?