Digestive system -GR 8-9 - EXTRA INFORMATION

anneke (69)in #steemiteducation • 9 years ago (edited)

To refresh your memory on the work we have already done on the digestive system, you can watch the videos

When you are done we will continue with some fun facts and activities

Did you know??

The muscles in your esophagus will still contract and relax to push food down to your stomach, even if you are upside down (not a good idea to stand on your head when you eat)
the large intestines is about 5 feet in length (1.5m)
food is cooled or warmed in the mouth until it is a good temperature for the body (do not swallow too fast if it is too hot or cold - chew a bit longer. It is in anycase a good idea to chew your food longer.)
the stomach wall has three layers of muscles
the digestive tract, starting at the mouth and ending at the anus, is more than 29 feet (8.8m) long. (Wow! If you can find some digestive tract lying around, you can climb down from the second story of a building hahahaha)
the acid produced by the stomach -hydrochloric acid can dissolve metal but has no effect on plastic (so unwrap your food before you eat it...)
the surface area of the small intestine is 2700 feet (822.9m) (you can cover over half the size of a basketball court)
the stomach of an adults holds about 1.5 liters of food and stays there for 2-3 hours
the liver has more than 500 functions -and you thought studying about 2 or 3 of them were enough
it takes the food 7 seconds to travel down the esophagus and reach the stomach
the average human being has more than 400 species of bacteria in their colon - you have your own little zoo going on there

You can print the following picture with the summary of the main functions of each part of the digestive system - this will help you to study the different parts.

image source

For fun you can choose a part of the digestive tract (or the whole one) and build a 3D model of it.

You can use clay, papermache, sweets, any type of material you want to use to build this - remember to label it and give atleast one function of each part.

Enjoy doing this and also learn from it.