Digestive System Activity
Digestive System Activity
The Body System Travel Agency has just hired the class to give tours through the various body
systems. Their first task is to create a travel brochure to highlight the imports and exports of each
area -- circulatory, digestive, nervous and so on -- as well as the "trendy" spots and exciting activities
the systems contain. Also mention any dangers or precautions that tourists should be aware of when
visiting each system. During this activity, students will not only visit the digestive system and show
how it works, but they will also see how food is used to nourish the other body systems as well.
Students may also create commercials to highlight each body system tour.
Objectives:
These activities will show students what organs aid in digestion and how
digestion occurs in the human body. This lesson maybe appropriate for middle
grades, but is designed for the upper grade curricula.
Materials Needed:
- sugar cubes
- granulated sugar
- 1M HCl
- Digestive Juice A (pepsin, trypsin and water)
- graduated cylinder
Strategy:
Allow students to use different color yarn to represent different organs. After
Esophagus 25 cm
Stomach 20 cm
TOTAL 895 cm
Have the students chew two unsalted soda crackers for two minutes without
swallowing.
Digestive Juice A and two tablespoons of Digestive Juice B into a plastic bag.
Knead the bad with your hands (simulates the stomach) for about 10-15 minutes,
it will have been reduced to mainly liquid and have a definite odor.
Compare how 1, 2, 3, and 4 folded paper towels absorb. Dip each paper
towel into a cup of water (use the same amount of water in each cup). Record
Procedure:
1. FOOD TUBE: Lay out two parallel lines of tape on the floor, 3'
lines.
Action:
1. Peristaltic Movement: Put the food particle to be eaten at one end of the
food tube and a large trash can at the other. Have students line up on
both sides, facing each other, squeeze the food particle the length of the
food tube.
student they should narrate what they are doing and why.
Small Intestine - absorbs food, find bags of candy and pass to blood
Performance Assessment:
1. What system in your body is the same length as the completed piece of
yarn? What is it's length (in centimeters, in feet)?
2. From your observations in Activity #2, what can you conclude must be
done to food before digestion begins?
3. What physical and chemical changes occurred to the soda cracker?
4. What caused the physical and chemical changes to the soda cracker?
5. Did you notice a taste change in the soda cracker?
6. How was mechanical digestion simulated in Activity #4.
7. What evidence was their that chemical digestion occurred in the
hamburger?
8. Which paper towel had the largest surface area?
9. Which cup had the highest volume of water left?
10. How do the villi (of the small intestine) aid in absorption?
11. Follow the path of a food particle through the digestive system;
include the organs and their functions.
Conclusion:
These six activities will enhance the student's knowledge of what organs
aid in digestion and how digestion occurs in the human body. Students will have
a more comprehensive understanding of what happens in their bodies when they
eat.