Download Study Guide: Digestive System The following questions outline the

Study Guide: Digestive System
The following questions outline the key concepts you should know in preparation for the unit test. I
recommend reviewing the questions and your answers for 20-30 minutes each night. All answers to the
questions should be in your class notes or lab lesson data sheets.
1. 1. Review your “Nutrients: Can't Live Without 'Em” Pamphlet. What are the different types of
nutrients in the body? What is the function of each in the body and name a food each would be found
in.
2. What are the five levels of organization in the human body? Provide a definition of each level of
organization.
3. What are the major organs of the digestive system? Can you identify these organs on a diagram? Can
you identify the order in which food would travel through them as it moves along the digestive tract.
4. 4..How does mechanical digestion differ from chemical digestion? Can you provide specific examples of
each form of digestion.
5. What is peristalsis?
6. What are sphincters and why do we have them in our digestive tract?
7. What is mucus and how is it used in our digestive tract?
8. What is feces?
9. How is flatus produced?
10. Note: Be aware that the liver, gall bladder, pancreas, and salivary glands are accessory organs of
digestion. Know what each contributes to digestion.
11. Why do we need carbohydrates in our body?
12. What are the two main types of carbohydrates?
13. What solution do we use to test for sugar?
14. What does a positive test for sugar look like? (what color) What does a negative test for sugar look like?
15. Which of the food substances in Lab Lesson 3 tested positive for sugar?
16. What solution do we use to test for starch?
17. What does a positive test for starch look like? (what color) What does a negative test for sugar look
like?
18. Which of the food substances in Lab Lesson 3 tested positive for starch?
19. Distilled water was often used in our lab lessons as a control. What is a control?
20. During Lab Lesson 3, powdered egg white was a false positive for the sugar test. What is a false
positive? What nutrient was in the egg white that caused the false positive reading?
21. When food is chewed and mixed with saliva, it turns into a moist ball called _________?
22. What is the digestive enzyme found in saliva called?
23. Why do we have the enzyme (from question #29) in our mouths? In other words, what specific nutrient
does it break down?
24. What types of nutrients do NOT undergo chemical digestion in the mouth?
25. Review Lab Lesson 4. Make sure you understand how the “expected results” answer questions 1
through 3 on your Student Sheet 4.1
26. Lab Lesson 5 involved Digestion in the Stomach. What nutrient is chemically digested in the stomach?
27. Gastric juice found in the stomach consists of two components (a specific acid and a specific enzyme).
Name the acid and the enzyme needed for chemical digestion in the stomach.
28. Review the “expected results” from Lab Lesson 5 and understand that chemical digestion in the
stomach requires BOTH the acid and the enzyme to work successfully.
29. Why does the body need protein?
30. What is the function of the mucus that coats the stomach wall?
31. How does an ulcer form?
32. What is chyme?
33. Note: The pyloric sphincter is the sphincter connecting the stomach to the small intestine.
34. Why is the term “heartburn” inaccurate? Where does heartburn actually occur?
35. Explain the difference between diffusion and active transport? (Define each word)
36. Why is diffusion often called passive transport?
37. Why are diffusion and active transport necessary in the body? (What purpose do they serve?)
38. What are the digestive processes that occur in the small intestine?
39. In Lab Lesson 6: Diffusion and Cell Membranes set up experiments to test for the diffusion of sugar and
starch through a membrane. Which substance (sugar or starch) diffused (or passed through) the
membrane? How did we know that the sugar had successfully diffused? (What test did we use to
determine that the substance had diffused?)
40. Why did one substance diffuse through the membrane and one did not?
41. Why does the small intestine have villi and microvilli? (What purpose do they serve?)
42. What is absorption (in relation to the digestive system)?
43. Which organ of the digestive system does most absorption take place? (Hint: What is the longest organ
of the digestive system?)
44. What is the surface area of a rectangular solid with a length of 10 cm, width of 2 cm, and height of 2
cm?
45. Why does the body need fat?
46. In which organ is fat mechanically and chemically digested?
47. What is the function of the liver?
48. What is the function of the gall bladder?
49. What is the function of the pancreas?
50. What is the main function of the large intestine?
51. If the rate of peristalsis is too fast in the large intestine, what may occur?
52. In which organ are wastes stored?
53. What is the little organ along the digestive tract that has no known function in humans?