digestive system functions

Question 1

mouth

Answer 1

a place where we mechanically and chemically break down the food we eat

Question 2

s

Answer 2

d

Question 3

salivary glands

Answer 3

to produce saliva which contains enzymes that chemically break down the food in our mouths

Question 4

epiglottis

Answer 4

to cover the windpipe (trachea) when we swallow so food goes down the right tube and we don’t choke

Question 5

esophagus

Answer 5

to squeeze food down from the mouth to the stomach with a process called peristalsis

Question 6

stomach

Answer 6

to chemically break down food with stomach acid (hydrochloric acid) and mechanically break down food with the contracting of the stomach muscles to turn the food into a liquid form called chyme

Question 7

liver

Answer 7

stores, distributes, and breaks down nutrients;
stores minerals and vitamins;
breaks down toxic substances in the blood
; makes a green liquid called bile that helps with fat digestion;
creates cholesterol for cell membranes

Question 8

gall baldder

Answer 8

temporarily stores bile and squeezes it into the small intestine to break down fat droplets

Question 9

pancreas

Answer 9

produces pancreatic juice which contains digestive enzymes and bicarbonate (which neutralizes acid in chyme)

Question 10

small intestine

Answer 10

absorbs nutrients from chyme (enzymes absorb chemicals to use for the body)

Question 11

large intestine

Answer 11

absorbs water and dries out the food (preventing us from getting dehydrated), turning it into waste

Question 12

rectum

Answer 12

stores waste before it exits the body