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DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
Vocabulary
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Saliva: A liquid in your mouth that starts to break
down the food you eat
Peristalsis: The squeezing action of organs that
moves food all the way through the digestive
system
Pancreas: The digestive organ that makes
pancreatic juices, which help break down starches,
proteins, and fats
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Bile: A digestive fluid made by the liver, helps
digest fats
Gallbladder: The organ in the digestive system that
stores bile
Digestion: The process of breaking down food into
a form your body can use
Nutrients : Substances in food that the body needs
to work properly
What happens in your mouth?
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Teeth chop and grind food into smaller pieces
Chopped food mixes with saliva that helps break
down food
 Liquids
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are called digestive juices
More saliva is made when you eat
What happens in your esophagus and
stomach?
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After swallowing, food goes to the esophagus
Food is moved by a wavelike, squeezing action
called peristalsis
Continued
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Food then enters the stomach, which is a hollow,
muscular organ that breaks down food
 Glands
in the stomach make acid and other digestive
juices
 The walls squeeze food and mix it with juices to form a
thick liquid
What happens in your small and large
intestines?
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Food enters the small intestines after the
stomach (most nutrient absorption occurs
here)
Continued
The pancreas makes pancreatic juices that
break down starches, proteins, and fats in the
food
 Cells in the pancreas also make a hormone
called insulin, which helps your body use
sugar
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Continued
The liver is another digestive organ that makes a
fluid called bile, which flows into the gallbladder
 Gallbladder stores bile, and doesn’t make any of
it’s own fluids
 Bile is squirted out when fats enter the small
intestines
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Nutrients enter the blood in the small intestines
though capillaries
Not all food can be digested in the body – those
parts pass to the large intestines
 Wider and shorter than small intestines
 Takes most of the remaining water out of food
and forms solid waste removed during a bowel
movement
 Eating food with water and indigestive materials,
like fresh fruits and vegetables help the large
intestine empty regularly
Lesson 3 Review
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What does the digestive system do?
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What happens to food in the stomach?
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How do the materials in food get to the cells of
your body?