Title
The Digestive System
Content
Human biology – the functioning of the digestive system
Language
the human body parts involved in the digestive process
relative pronouns and relative adverbs: who, which, that, whose,
when, where
defining relative clauses: when the relative pronoun can be
omitted
Level
B1 – B2
Time
Approximately 2 hours, plus e-learning homework of 30-40
minutes
Lesson Plan
Part 1
30-40 minutes
Vocabulary for body parts involved in the digestive process.
Worksheet 1A and Worksheet 1B
Matching images to vocabulary and functions.
Individual and pair work
Part 2
40-50 minutes
Defining relative clauses
Worksheet 2
Identifying relative clauses/pronouns/adverbs
Formulating a grammatical rule
Writing sentences using relative clauses
Individual and pair work
Part 3
30-40 minutes
Putting into practice
Worksheets 3A and 3B
Half-a-crossword – formulating and understanding
definitions.
Pair work
Part 4
30 minutes
Self-study: online animation with transcript where all the words
are hyperlinked to online dictionaries. After having watched the
video and read the transcript, with help of the online
dictionaries, students complete 3 online exercise (Vocabulary
Crossword, Label the Parts, Identify the various stages of the
digestive system).
www.multidict.net/cs/1657
WORKSHEET 1ATHE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM – body parts
Here are the main body parts involved in the digestive system.
Read the descriptions and then number then in accordance with the
digestive process. The first one has been done for you (e.g. 1:
Mouth)
Small intestine
The muscles of this part mix food with digestive juices and push
the mixture forward to help with further digestion.
Esophagus
This is a muscular tube that carries food and liquids into the
body.
1
Mouth
This is where food first enters the body.
Stomach
Food and liquid is stored here, and mixed with digestive juices,
before being emptied out.
Liver
This organ produces a digestive juice called bile.
Large intestine
Undigested food is sent here. Water and any remaining nutrients
are absorbed, and the remaining waste is changed into stool.
Pancreas
This organ produces a juice containing several enzymes that
break down carbohydrates, fats and proteins. It delivers digestive
juice to the small intestine through small tubes called ducts.
Teeth
These cut the food into small pieces.
Gall bladder
Bile is stored here between meals. When a person eats, this
organ squeezes bile through the bile duct.
Now work in pairs. Cover up the table above, so that you can
only see the pictures. Check if you can remember the names of the
body parts.
WORKSHEET 1BTHE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM – How it works
Read this short description of the digestive system. Then write
the name of correct body part for each gap. There are some pictures
to help you.
First of all, food enters the __________ and is cut into small
pieces by the
__________. It then mixes with fluids secreted by the salivary
glands and is pushed down the ______________ into the
___________.
From there, the food passes into the _______________ _. This is
where
most of the digestion and absorption occurs. At the same
time,
the _____________ also secretes enzymes that help with
digestion. The
digested food is received by the _____________, which
manufactures bile for the ______________. Undigested food from the
___________________ is then passed into the
____________________.
Undigested food is eliminated from the system through the
anus.
WORKSHEET 2THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
Defining relative clauses
Read the text below about the human digestive system.
People who have problems with digestion can experience different
symptoms. The treatment plans which healthcare workers prescribe
can therefore also be different and the doctors and nurses that
work in this sector must have a good understanding of the entire
digestive process.
Digestion is important for breaking down food into the nutrients
which the body uses for energy, growth, and cell repair. Digestion
works by moving food through the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. The
mouth is the place where digestion begins and the small intestine
is the place where it ends. As food passes through the GI tract, it
mixes with the digestive juices that cause large molecules of food
to break down into smaller molecules. The body then absorbs these
smaller molecules through the walls of the small intestine into the
bloodstream and delivers them to the rest of the body. Waste
products of digestion pass through the large intestine and out of
the body as a solid matter called stool.
Digestive juices contain enzymes that break food down into
different nutrients. The small intestine absorbs most digested food
molecules, as well as water and minerals, and passes them on to
other parts of the body for storage or further chemical change.
People whose hormone and nerve regulators are not working properly
may have problems controlling the digestive process.
ALook at this sentence from the text:
Digestion is important for breaking down food into the nutrients
which the body uses for energy …….
The words in italics are a defining relative clause, connected
to the main clause by the relative pronoun “which”.
Now find and underline these relative pronouns and relative
adverbs in the text:
Relative pronouns:who thatwhich whose
Relative adverbs:whenwhere
BMatch the relative pronouns or adverbs in the column on the
left with the uses in the column on the right.
who
that
which
whose
when
where
places
people + possessions/ideas
things or ideas
people
time
C
Match the two halves of the sentences in the columns below, and
join them using who, that, which, whose, where or when.
A nurse is someone …
…. handwriting is often very bad.
A hospital is ….
…. is receiving medical care.
A prescription is a piece of paper ..
…. patients go for treatment.
A patient is someone ….
…. looks after the sick or injured.
A hospitalization period is ..
…. gives the written instructions of a doctor.
A doctor is someone ….
…. patients stay in hospital for treatment.
DLook at these examples of relative clauses
Food mixes with the digestive juices. These juices cause large
molecules of food to break down into smaller molecules.
Food mixes with the digestive juices which cause large molecules
of food to break down into smaller molecules.
In the second sentence, what is the subject of the verb “cause”?
___________
In the second sentence, what is the object of the verb “cause”?
___________
Digestion is important for breaking down food into nutrients.
The body uses these nutrients for energy.
Digestion is important for breaking down food into nutrients the
body uses for energy.
In the second sentence, what is the subject of the verb “uses”?
____________
In the second sentence, what is the object of the verb “uses”?
____________
Is it missing? If it were there, what would it be?
____________
Choose the correct option for the rule:
Rule:We can leave out the relative pronoun if it is the subject
/ object of the relative clause.
EIf possible, delete the relative pronouns in the following
sentences
1People who have bad eating habits may have digestive
problems.
2The medicine that the doctor gave me is very good.
3There are nurses who are very well-qualified.
4The hospital which I went to is in Lugano.
5There were some patients who I didn’t like very much.
FComplete these sentences using relative pronouns or relative
adverbs.
1 That’s the little boy
________________________________________
2 I visited the castle
_________________________________________
3 The lady _________________________________________________
4 That was the time
__________________________________________
5 I went to see the doctor
_____________________________________
6 My mother comes from the town
_____________________________
7 She moved into the house
___________________________________
8I followed the dog
_________________________________________
WORKSHEET 3A
HALF A CROSSWORD
You know some of the words in this crossword. Your partner knows
the others. Ask your partner questions to find out the missing
words, and answer your partner’s questions
For example: “What is the word in 2 across?
Your partner will answer: “This is the organ where/which/that
………”
1 S
2
T
O
M
3
A
4 A
C
B
5
6 E
H
S
S
7
O
0
R
P
8 L
O
9 E
H
10
I
T
N
A
V
I
Z
G
E
O
Y
U
R
N
M
S
E
Clues down
1Example: This is the organ where food is stored.
4
6
8
9
WORKSHEET 3B
HALF A CROSSWORD
You know some of the words on this crossword. Your partner knows
the others. Ask your partner questions to find out the missing
words, and answer your partner’s questions
For example: “What is the word in 2 across?
Your partner will answer: “This is the organ where/which/that
………”
1
2 I
N
T
E
S
T
I
N
E
3 P
A
N
C
R
E
4 A
S
5 T
E
6 E
T
H
7M
O
U
T
H
8
9
10 D
I
G
E
S
T
I
O
N
Clues Across
2 Example: This is an organ that is very long. There are 2 types
– small and large.
3
5
7
10
