The Digestive System Worksheet

What is the digestive tract? A long continuous tube with food first entering at the mouth.
What happens to undigested materials in the digestive tract? They continue along the tube until it exits the anus along with dead cells.
Sketch the path that food takes through the digestive tract. Be sure to include the mouth, esophagus, stomach, duodenum, small intestine, appendix, large intestine rectum, and all 4 sphincters.
What is the function of the mouth in the digestion process? The teeth and tongue start the digestion process by breaking down the food.
What is the term for the small mass of food that enters into the esophagus? bolus
What triggers peristalsis? The presence of bolus in the esophagus
What is the function of the cardiac sphincter? ? It closes the entrance of the stomach.
What is the mucous membrane? It is a coating over the stomach wall that prevents digestion of itself.
How long is the small intestine? Over 20 feet long
Where does most digestion and absorption of nutrients take place? In the small intestines.
What increase the surface area of the small intestine? Small finger-like projections called villi
What is the first section of the small intestine? What is its function? Duodenum. Their receptors detect the presence of hypo and hyper tonic solutions, acid and chemical changes in the chyme.
Where is bile stored? It is stored in the gallbladder.
What is segmentation? A type of muscle contraction.
When does the ileocecal sphincter open? It opens when the build up of food in the small intestines reaches a certain point.
What is the function of the anal sphincter? It stops waste from leaving the body until you want it to.
What is the function of the appendix in humans? It serves no function in man. Sometimes gets infected(removed).
Where does digestion begin? In the mouth
What is gastric juice made of? Hydrochloric acids and enzymes.
Where are enzymes released in the small intestine produced? Pancreas and intestinal glands.
What is the function of the following enzymes: amylase, lactase, maltase, sucrase, and lipase? Amylase – completes the process of hydrolyzing starch. Lactase – breaks down lactose. Maltase – breaks down maltose. Sucrase – breaks down surcrose.
There are two ways that nutrients get into the blood stream. Describe each method. Some substances diffuse across the intestinal membrane and into the blood by flowing along the concentration gradient. Other substances must be forced through the membrane against a gradient, since their concentration in the blood is already greater than it is in the intestinal lumen.