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Science
Quarter 4 – Module 1: Parts and
Functions of the Digestive System

Self-Learning Module
Development Team of the Self Learning Module

Writers: Editors: Reviewer:

Ma.Layout
LourdesArtist:
Francesca P. Alba, Jonar C. Alpon Joey Ian Singson
Management Team: Edna Rose P. Gueco
Ma. Lourdes Francesca P. Alba, Jonar C. Alpon Janalyn B. Navarro
Edna Rose P. Gueco
Ellen G. Dela Cruz

“Una satanan, BATA: Buligan, Amligan, Tudluan, Alalayan!”

DIVISION OF BACOLOD CITY

 I Need to Know

This module was designed and written with you in mind. It is here to help you This module is
to explain ingestion, digestion, absorption, assimilation, and excretion in the Digestive
System (S8LT-Iva-13). The scope of this module allows you to use it in many different learning
situations. The language used recognizes the diverse vocabulary level of students. The lessons are
arranged to follow the standard sequence of the course. But the order in which you read them can be
changed to correspond with the textbook you are now using. This module introduces you to the different
organs that make up the digestive system of animals and how they interact with each other to digest food
and nourish their bodies. Emphasis is given on the human digestive system and its processes.

After going through this module, you are expected to

1. Trace the food pathway

2. Explain the processes involved in the digestive system
3. Assess the relevance of eating healthy food.

Lesson

1 The Digestive System

Lesson Overview

Food plays a central role in the survival of species. Food gives organisms energy that
enables them to carry out the many activities they do each day; this includes predators chasing a
prey or a prey escaping a predator, arboreal organisms climbing trees to gather fruits, or fish
swimming in schools in search for food, to name a few. Organisms can obtain energy from the
foods they eat through digestion.

Digestion of food is carried out by the organs and substances of the digestive system.
During digestion, food is broken down to smaller parts – a fraction of which is made up of
nutrients. These nutrients are circulated to the different parts of the body through the
bloodstream and assimilated by cells.

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INGESTION
Taking a bite of the sandwich begins the digestive
process. Amylase, an enzyme produced by the
salivary gland, initiates starch digestion in the mouth.
Saliva also helps moisten and lubricate the food which
turns into a bolus (mass of food that is easier to
swallow). The tongue and the teeth work together to
break down food mechanically. When the food has
been chewed, the bolus is pushed by the tongue
against the palate, forcing it to move toward the
pharynx and to the esophagus. As the food passes
through the pharynx, the epiglottis is tipped backward,
preventing the food’s passage to the larynx. The
wavelike muscular contraction and relaxation of the
esophagus, which is called peristalsis propels the Figure 1. Peristalsis propels the
bolus to the stomach. food along the digestive tube.

DIGESTION
After passing through the esophagus (approximately 25 cm long), the mass of food
reaches the stomach where protein digestion begins. The swallowed pieces of sandwich stay up
to about two to three hours in the stomach, where the food is mixed with stomach secretions and
converted into semifluid acidic mixture called chyme.
Mechanical digestion occurs when the stomach’s thick muscular wall churns and mixes
the food. On the other hand, chemical digestion takes place when the stomach secretes its
gastric juices. Hydrochloric acid and pepsin (an enzyme present in the stomach during
digestion), digest proteins forming small chains of amino acids. Fat digestion takes place in the
stomach with the aid of lipase, an enzyme that breaks down fats.

Figure 2. Churning and mixing of food inside the stomach

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ABSORPTION
Each peristaltic contraction is strong enough to pump a small amount of chyme through
an opening, and into the first part (approximately 25 cm long) of the small intestine called
duodenum. The rest of the digestion occurs in the duodenum. It is where the carbohydrates and
proteins are broken down. The jejunum and ileum, the second and third parts of the small
intestine, respectively, perform the critical function of absorbing nutrients and transferring them
to the circulating blood. Secretions from the mucosal layer of the intestine lubricate and protect
its lining from the acidic chyme and other digestive enzymes. The folded lining of the small
intestine has many fingerlike extensions called villi (singular: villus). Each villus is covered by
simple columnar cells and contains capillaries and lymph vessels where nutrients are absorbed
into the bloodstream. In addition, most of the cells composing the surface of villi have
numerous projections resembling a fine brush called microvilli (singular: microvillus).

ASSIMILATION
In the process of absorption and assimilation after digestion and absorption, the nutrients
that are present in the blood reach the target cells and tissues which utilize them for their
activities. This process of synthesizing the biological compounds (macromolecules) from the
absorbed simple molecules is called assimilation. It helps in the cell growth and development
and new cell production.

Figure 3. Nutrients are taken from the blood to the target cells.

EXCRETION
It takes about 18 to 24 hours for food to pass through the large intestine, which is
significantly longer than the three-to five-hour travel time of chyme through the small intestine.
From the small intestine, the residue of the sandwich now moves into the large intestine. Water,
salts, and vitamins are absorbed from the remaining contents of

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undigested food (feces). Vitamin K produced by bacteria in the large intestine is also absorbed.
Abundant microorganisms, which inhabit the large intestine, reproduce rapidly and compose
about 30 % of the dry weight of feces.
Your sandwich is now an indigestible material that is comparable to cellulose. The large
intestine stores the feces until they are eliminated by the process of defecation. The remains of
the sandwich pass out through the rectum and anus as feces, which contain undigested food
such as cellulose and bacteria.

Figure 4. The large intestine is made up of colon, cecum, appendix, and rectum.

Pancreas, liver, and gallbladder plays an important part in the digestive process. The
pancreas secretes a variety of enzymes that breaks down carbohydrates into simple sugars.
These enzymes also split proteins into amino acids, and fats into fatty acids. Moreover, the
pancreas produces bicarbonate that neutralizes stomach acids
Digestive enzymes cannot act efficiently on large fat globules, the liver secretes bile- a
greenish fluid that emulsifies fats by breaking fat globules into smaller droplets.
The gallbladder is a green muscular sac that is attached to the liver. It stores the bile
until it is needed by the small intestine.

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 I Will Do This

TURN THEM TO DROPLETS!

Materials:
Two (2) glasses of warm water
Spoon
Two (2) tablespoons of cooking oil
Two (2) tablespoons of liquid dishwashing detergent.

Procedure:
1. Prepare two glasses of warm water
2. Add a tablespoon of cooking oil into each glass. Observe what happens
3. Add another tablespoon of liquid dishwashing detergent to the first glass (Set up A), and
leave the second glass without detergent (Set up B).
4. Stir the mixtures in each glass. Compare what happens to the oil in each glass.

Guide Questions:
1. Based on your observations, in which of the glasses did the fat droplets dissolved
_

2. How can you relate the results of the activity to the digestion of fat droplets inside the
body?

3. At which part of the digestive system does fat digestion take place?

4. What do you call the fat emulsifier of the digestive system?

5. How does emulsification of fat change the surface area of the oil? How does it speed
up digestion?

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 I Practice This
Trace the pathway of the food in your digestive system by naming the organs in which it
passes through and arrange them on the table according to the digestive process (Ingestion,
Digestion, Absorption, Assimilation, or Excretion) that it is involved into.

Ingestion Digestion Absorption Assimilation Excretion

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Key Answers

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 LUISA MEDEL NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
Ramylu Drive Tangub Bacolod City

Science 8
Name: _____________________________________
Grade & Section: ____________________________

ANSWER HERE: General Instructions: Answer completely the Written Assessment Worksheet and submit to your
teacher on time. Avoid making any erasures. Write legibly. Don’t forget to write your name & section.

Written Assessment Worksheet No. 1

Self Learning Module 1–Parts and Functions of the Digestive System

Multiple Choice. Encircle the letter of the correct answer.

1. Which of the following is not an accessory organ?
A. Pancreas B. liver C. esophagus D. gallbladder
2. An accessory organ is a body part that helps or plays a role in a system different from the system in which
its most directly involved. Each of the following organs is a component of the digestive tract except one.
Which one is the exception?
A. Spleen B. esophagus C. stomach D. colon
3. “Digestion”, alone, refers to the
A. absorption of nutrients in the gut.
B. input of food into the digestive tract.
C. chemical and mechanical breakdown of food.
D. All the preceding answers
4. Which of the following is NOT a digestive function?
A. filtration B. absorption C. mechanical processing D. ingestion
5. What is/are waves of muscular contractions that propel the contents of the digestive tract from
one point to another?
A. segmentations B. mastication C. peristalsis D. churning
6. It is the removal of waste products from a body. What is referred to by this?
A. excretion B. ingestion C. digestion D. absorption
7. Protein is a nutrient your body needs to grow and repair cells, and to work properly. Into what
substance is the protein in your body converted to?
A. glucose B. fat C. fibers D. amino acid
8. It is the process of absorption of food molecules from digestive track by the blood vessels. What is
referred to by this?
A. Absorption B. assimilation C. digestion D. ingestion
9. Where in the digestive system is water reabsorbed?
A. the mouth C. small intestine
B. the large intestine D. stomach
10. Which is the correct order of processes that happen in the digestive system?
A. ingestion- digestion- excretion
B. excretion-digestion- ingestion
C. digestion- assimilation- ingestion
D. absorption- digestion- excretion
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