MOSAIC: Gross Anatomy: The Digestive System

Academic Standards:

NGSS LS1.A (Strand 5) Plants and animals have both internal and external structures that serve various functions in growth, survival, behavior, and reproduction. (Strand 12) Multicellular organisms have a hierarchical structural organization, in which any one system is made up of numerous parts and is itself a component of the next level.

Lesson Materials: (per group) x One Morter/Pestel (representing the mouth

and teeth) x One Small Squirt Bottle (filled with water,

representing saliva) x Two Differently Colored Funnels (leading into

the esophagus/small intestine) x Two Clear Plastic Tubes (one representing the

esophagus, one representing the small intestine)

x One Ziploc Bag (Stomach) x 1 Knee-high stocking (Large Intestine) x 1 Gatorade Bottle (show stomach size) x 1 20 ft. tube (demonstrate length of small

intestine) Preparation: ● Put out materials for each group.

x Three Binder Clips (To act as a sphincter in the stomach and large intestine and to hold reactions in the second funnel before the small intestine)

x 1 tsp Meat Tenderizer (Stomach: Protein digesting enzymes)

x 15 mL Vinegar (Stomach Acid) x 15 mL Dish Soap (Small Intestine Funnel:

Bile/Breaking down fats) x 2 tsp Baking Soda (Small Intestine Funnel: Acid

neutralizing chemicals) x Rubber Gloves for each participant x Safety Goggles for each participant x 1 5 oz. bean bag or container (show contracted

stomach size)

OBJECTIVE 2: Students will be able to identify one previously unknown organ by name and function.

OBJECTIVE 1: Students can site at least two examples of both mechanical and chemical digestive processes.

ASSESSMENT: Questioning throughout activity; end review.

ASSESSMENT: Questioning throughout activity; end review

OBJECTIVE 3: Given the list of organs, students are able to sequence each based on its role order in the digestive system

ASSESSMENT: Engage; End Quiz

MOSAIC: Gross Anatomy: The Digestive System

Procedure and Planning: Introduction: ● “Why does poop look the way it does? And how is it made? Today we’re going to walk through the

steps that food goes through in the digestive tract - and find out! We’ll actually act out what happens to food as it goes from your mouth to...well...you know where. Today we will end up with fake poop, and to make things more exciting, we will have a competition to see who can make the most realistic poop.” As a reference point, you may use the first cue card.

● Assemble students into groups of 2-3 for the rest of the digestive system activity. As you may notice at the end of the first cue card, the students will be performing a Human Machine Activity: in this activity, students will act out the organs they believe to make up the digestive system in the order that they think they occur. (This acts as a pre-assessment tool and an engage by activating prior knowledge).

● Have each group elect one student to act as the “equipment manager” and gather the materials for their group.

Body of Lesson: ● As the instructor walks through the various stages of the digestive system, explaining what happens

in each, students will hold up the items that represent that section. Every other stage it may be good to review the stages up until that point (from the beginning).

● The sequence of organs and the description of each organ’s function can be found in the attached cue cards. These are not meant to be read from, but to act as an outline and catalogue of specific organ information for the instructor. (NOTE: You (the activity leader) should look at and attempt to know as much of this as possible BEFORE the lesson!)

Closure: In review, the instructor/activity leader will ask participants what they learned today, what facts they didn’t know before, what they thought was fun, gross, and interesting, and review the order of organs and functions of several select organs. The class will participate in a “quiz” where they can arrange the parts of the digestive system according to the order of ther processes.

Helpful Hint: Be mindful of your students during the “talking” portions of the lesson. Be sure that your pace, tone, and movement respond to the reactions of kids.

Be sure to find your information for the different organs in the cue cards – and use the demonstration tools!

Foreachnumberbelow,followthedirectionsofyourteacher.Ifyoufinishearly,beginansweringthequestion.

1. Mouth:MechanicalDigestion(teeth)ChemicalDigestion(enzymesinyoursaliva)Whatdidyoulearnaboutthemouth?

1.

2.

2. Esophagus–Tubeleadingtostomach(startsinthebackofthemouthandgoesthroughthethroat).Thisiswhereperistalsishappens!Peristalsis–MusclemovementthatpushesfoodthroughthedigestivesystemDescribeperistalsisinyourownwords:

3. Stomach–(Foodstayshereforabout____hours)Filledwithacidandspecialprotein-digestingenzymesWhatdoenzymesdo?

4. PyloricSphinctor–circularmuscle;opensandcloseslikeadoorwaytothesmallintestine

5. GallBladder–Storesbile(fromliver);helpstodigestfat.

6. Pancreas–acidneutralizingchemicalsandproteindigestingenzymesWhatdoesitmeantobeacidneutralizing?

7. SmallIntestine–whereournutrientsareabsorbed.Thisisabout20feetlong!Foodtakesapproximately_____hourstopassthroughhere.

8. LargeIntestine–waterisabsorbedhere.Thewasteisheldintherectumuntilyou’rereadytoreleaseit.Yourfoodwillstayinthisorganfor_____hours.

9. AnalSphinctor–circularmuscle;actslikeadoorwayandopenstoreleasefeces

REVIEW:Writedowntwonewthingsthatyoulearnedtoday:

The Digestive System

x What do you know about the digestive system? x How does food turn into poop? x What does this process look like?

Human Machine Activity: 10 minutes

The Mouth Hold it up! (Mortar and pestle)

x Chew this gum or imagine your favorite food; what changes do you notice in your mouth?

x What do you think is breaking down food? x There are two processes that break food down:

mechanical and chemical. What do you think the chemical process of the mouth is? What is the mechanical process?

Write down one new thing that you learned.

Esophagus Hold it up! (plastic tube)

x Esophagus is your “food” pipe, contrary to the “wind pipe” that delivers air to the lungs

x About 10” long x Uses peristalsis to move food down; this is the in

and out movement of the muscles squeezing! x On average, it takes food about 10 seconds to

move through the esophagus; it takes liquid about 1 second

Stomach – Hold it up! (Plastic bag with clip)

x Filled with acid that could burn a hole in the carpet! (Vinegar represents acid)

x The sphicters are round muscles that act as doorways holding things in the stomach

x Here food is broken down by acids and proteins are digested by enzymes (meat tenderizer) – which are special protein breaking molecules that break the proteins down into a form that the body can use.

x 4-6 hours later chyme is released

Gall bladder – Hold it up! (Soap)

x Before going far into the small intestine, the gall bladder releases bile to digest fat

x Why do you think we use soap for this?

Pancreas - Hold it up! (Baking Soda)

x Also acts before going far into the small intestine x The pancreas releases acid neutralizing chemicals. x What do you think these do? What does it mean to be

“acid neutralizing?”

Small Intestine – Hold it up! (same tube as esophagus) x Given that our food has been churned into liquid, neutralized,

the fats and proteins have been broken down, and everything has been prepared, what do you think the small intestine’s main job is? (Answer: ABSORBS THESE NUTRIENTS!!)

x 20-22ft long x 4 hours of absorption in the small intestine x Filled with small finger-like villi which provide more surfaces

to absorb nutrients x Surface area without villi: six square feet (about a ceiling tile) x Surface area with villi: 4,000 square feet (a log cabin)

Large Intestine - Hold it up! (Panty hose with clip)

x 5 ft long x Now that our nutrients are absorbed, we don’t

need anything more food – so what do you think the large intestines job is? (Prepares waste for removal)

x The large intestine prepares waste by draining what water is left (about 90% of the water is absorbed here). This takes 10-15 hours.

Rectum - (End of panty hose)

x Acts as a holding station for waste

Anal Sphycter - (Clip on panty hose)

x Circular muscle that acts as a doorway much like the sphyncter of the stomach

x Holds your waste in until you’re prepared to release it, which is why you can hold poop in for seconds, minutes, hours, even days! (don’t do that though – it’s not really good for you)

x Opens to release farts

Fun Facts (Mouth):

x Saliva is made by 6 spit factories called glands; these work if you see, smell, or even think about food.

x You make approx. 6 cups of spit a day – that’s 10,000 gallons in an average lifetime of 80 years. That’s enough to fill a pool!

Fun Facts (Stomach):

x Makes 3 quarts of digestive juice a day x Can hold up to five quarts (show gatorade bottle) x In 1822 Alexis St. Martin was shot in the gut. The

hole healed leaving a permanent tunnel through his skin to his stomach. Dr. William Beaumont dangled items in this hole to study the stomach and how it worked.

Fun Facts (Farts):

x The average person farts about 14x a day.

Fun Facts (Large Intestine):

x When your large intestine decides something is wrong with the leftober food mess it doesn’t waste time removing water. Instead it rushes it out, taking much less than 10-15 hours. What do you think this is known as? (Diarrhea!)

x When you don’t have enough water, it takes even longer. For some people, it can take days – even weeks! What do you think this is called? (Constapation)

Esophagus Mouth

Stomach Pyloric Sphincter

Gall Bladder Pancreas

Small Intestine Large Intestine

Anal Sphincter MOSAIC

Gross Anatomy: The Digestive System