In Science this week, we have been learning about the digestive system and how our bodies break down food. Last week, we learned that digestion begins in the mouth where our teeth bite, chew and break up our food so it can be swallowed. We are finding out about our food’s journey from the mouth through the digestive system.
After leaving the mouth, food is swallowed and travels down the oesophagus. The oesophagus is a muscular tube which pushes food towards the stomach and this is similar to pushing toothpaste through a tube.
The stomach is like a bag which contains acid and churns your food. We made our own stomachs so we could represent this process!
Food leaves the stomach and travels to the small intestine where the most vital part of the process takes place. The nutrients pass through the walls of our small intestine and enter the blood stream giving our bodies the energy needed to live and grow.
Any materials from the food that our body doesn’t need travels to the large intestine where it turns into poo!