Ms.
Martina Nabil
Parts and Functions of
the Digestive System
4. The Digestive System
4.1 Parts and Functions of the Digestive System
YEAR 5
The Human Digestive System
Food gives the body energy.
But the body cannot use the food as it is.
The digestive system changes food by
breaking it down into tiny particles.
This process is called digestion.
The Human Digestive System
Digestion begins in the mouth,
where your teeth
chew and chop up the food
into smaller pieces that can be
swallowed.
Saliva, the liquid in your mouth,
begins to
chemically break down some
food.
The Human Digestive System
The food that is swallowed is
pushed down a tube called the
oesophagus and into the
stomach.
The muscles of the
oesophagus contract to
squeeze and push the food
downward.
The Human Digestive System
Inside the stomach the food
mixes with digestive juices that
turn the food into
a thick liquid similar to porridge.
The stomach is involved in the
digestion of
only certain kinds of food
(proteins).
The Human Digestive System
Liver excretes bile juice to break down
fats.
Pancreas produces chemical that
adjusts sugar levels in the body.
Liver and pancreas are connected to
the small intestine.
The Human Digestive System
The Human Digestive System
Most digestion takes place in the
small intestine.
The Human Digestive System
The small fingerlike structures are called
villi,
on the inside of the small intestines.
The Human Digestive System
Capillaries line the walls of villi.
The Human Digestive System
Food that completely digested is
absorbed through
the walls of the villi into the capillaries.
The Human Digestive System
The capillaries connect, or attach,
with larger blood vessels that
carry nutrients to all parts of the body.
The Human Digestive System
Any undigested bits of food that
our body can’t use
move into the large intestine.
The large intestine also absorbs
water and some substances back
into the blood.
The Human Digestive System
The solid undigested food bits are pushed
out of the body as waste through the open
end of the large intestine.
The Human Digestive System
The 4 Main Processes in the Digestive System
Ingestion: This happens when you take food or fluids into
1. your body through your mouth by drinking or eating it.
Digestion: This is the process of breaking large food
2. pieces down and processing fluids into particles that are
small enough to be absorbed and pass through cell
membranes.
Absorption: When the digested particles move into the
3. cells of the digestive tract and move to the bloodstream
from where they are carried to all the cells in the body.
Egestion: Any undigested or unwanted particles that
4. travel through the digestive tract are later passed out as
faeces.
Components of the Digestive System
mouth
oesophagus
liver large intestine
stomach rectum
anus
small intestine
1. The mouth and esophagus
Digestion starts in the mouth where food is chewed and
mixed with saliva.
Saliva not only moistens the food before we
swallow it; it also contains enzymes that
break down carbohydrates (starches and
sugars) before the food even leaves our
mouths.
Food then travels down the
oesophagus when you swallow.
DID YOU KNOW?
A soft ‘flap’ of tissue called the epiglottis
closes over the windpipe when we swallow
to prevent choking.
2. Stomach
The chewed food enters the stomach and is digested further
through the churning of the stomach muscles and juices such
as enzymes and acids that help digest the food. The stomach
breaks the food down further into a more liquid state.
DID YOU KNOW?
In order for food to stay in the stomach
while being digested, a valve-like muscle
called a sphincter located at the end of the
oesophagus squeezes itself shut.
3. Small intestine
Most of the digestion takes place in the small intestine.
Absorption of the food particles takes place in the small
intestine.
DID YOU KNOW?
Our small intestines contain tiny finger-like
projections called villi that act as vehicles to
transport nutrients into the blood that then
circulates through the rest of the body.
4. Large intestine/colon
When the food reaches the large intestine, most of the
nutrients have been absorbed into the bloodstream. The body
then removes water from the undigested particles in order to
form solid waste that is then excreted through faeces. The
water that is left is absorbed in the large intestine.
DID YOU KNOW?
Your large intestine is about 1.82 metres
long.
5. Rectum and anus
The remaining substances (faeces) are passed into
the rectum where it is stored until the body is ready
to pass it through the anus in the form of a bowel
movement. This is also called egestion.
DID YOU KNOW?
Diarrhoea happens when waste passes
through your large intestine too quickly.
