How it works
Food meets the organs of the digestive tract in a fixed order, and each one does a different job. This digestive system graphic organizer follows that order, so the finished page reads as the journey of one bite.
Read the full guide
Follow one bite
Name a food before the class starts, then ask the same things in every box: what breaks the food up here, what is added to it, and what is taken out of it. The answers change from organ to organ.
Mechanical and chemical at once
Most rows of the chart get an answer in both columns. In the stomach, muscles churn the food while acid and enzymes work on it. Fill in both boxes for one organ before moving down to the next.
- The esophagus only moves food along. No digestive juice is added there.
Questions and answers
What are the organs of the digestive system in order?
Food passes through the mouth, esophagus, stomach, small intestine and large intestine, and waste leaves through the anus. The liver, pancreas and gallbladder belong to the system too, though food does not pass through them.
What is the difference between mechanical and chemical digestion?
Mechanical digestion is the physical breaking of large pieces of food into smaller ones, as chewing does. In chemical digestion, enzymes break food down into small compounds that the body can use.
Where does most digestion take place?
In the small intestine. Digestive juices from the pancreas, the liver and the intestine itself finish breaking food down there, and its walls absorb most of the nutrients into the bloodstream.
What is peristalsis?
The movement of muscle that pushes food through the digestive tract. The muscle behind the food squeezes it forward while the muscle in front relaxes to let it move.