Fruit-Eze Fun For Kids Foods Journey The journey of food is how we get fuel for the body

from the foods that we eat. The journey is outlined in five steps in the illustration below. The journey takes about 18-30 hours to complete. The digestive system, also called the gastrointestinal tract, is made up of hollow organs that serve as a passage way and processor changing the foods we eat into nutrients we use as energy. When we consume foods, the gastrointestinal tract performs three functions as a unit: 1) It prepares food for absorption (chewing, breaking down and liquefying food). 2) It absorbs nutrients. 3) It prepares and eliminates any left over unused particles as waste. The brain directs activity. Messages are transmitted between the brain and the gut by nerve endings in the walls of the gastrointestinal tract. Color the brain gray. 1. The food goes in here where it is chewed into small bits. Saliva helps to soften the food for swallowing. Color the tongue pink. Muscles surround the entire G.I. Tract. They contract and relax in a wavelike motion to move things along.

Color the esophogus pink.

2. Food goes down this tube known as the esophogus. Mucus is released throughout to ease foods passage.

Color the liver brown

4. The small intestine consists of about 25 feet of coiled tubing. The remaining nutrients are removed here and absorbed by the body while what is left of the chyme makes its way down to the colon. Color the small intestine gray.

3. The food is held in the stomach until the stomach churns it (aided by muscles and enzymes) into a liquid called chyme (kime). Some nutrients are then absorbed by the stomach. The stomach slowly drips the chyme into the small intestine where it is met by additional enzymes that further break down the chyme. Color the stomach yellow.

5. The remaining chyme (which now consists of water, bacteria, fiber, dead cells, and anything our bodies cannot absorb), is passed along to the five foot long colon to be prepared for elimination. It is The Job of the colon to extract water from the chyme so that a stool can be formed and eliminated. Color the colon pink.

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Foods Journey P. 2 Text Questions & Answers

What is the journey of food?

What does the stomach do?

The journey is how we get fuel for the

body from the foods that we eat.

Food goes into the mouth. Food travels down the esophagus. Food is turned into liquid in the stomach. Food, now chyme, is absorbed in the
small intestine.

It holds the foods we eat.

It churns food (aided by muscles and enzymes) into a liquid called chyme. Some nutrients are absorbed.

It slowly drips chyme into the small intestine. The stomach does all of the above.

Left over particles of food, now waste, are formed into stools by the colon and eliminated. All of the above are part of the journey.

What does the small intestine do? It permits additional enzymes to further break down the chyme.

What does the gastrointestinal tract do?

It removes nutrients so that they can be absorbed by the body. It sends left over particles (now waste) to the colon (also known as the bowel). The small intestine does all of the above.

It is a passage way and processor

changing the foods we eat into nutrients we use as energy. breaking down and liquefying food).

It prepares food for absorption (chewing, It absorbs nutrients. It prepares and eliminates any left over
unused particles as waste matter.

What does the colon do?

All of the above make up the activity of the gastrointestinal tract. What does the mouth and tongue do? Tastes food. Food is chewed into small bits.

It extracts water from the liquid waste. It forms stools It eliminates stools. All of the above.
What directs foods journey and how is it helped along the way?

The brain directs activity. Messages are

Saliva helps to soften the food for swallowing. All of the above.

transmitted between the brain and the gut by nerves. contract and relax to move things along.

Muscles that surround the entire G.I. tract Throughout the inside of the G.I. Tract,
mucus is released to ease the passage of food. All of the above help food along its journey.

Text Questions & Answers by Carole Engel Director of Outreach, 2004 Fruit-Eze, Inc. / www.fruiteze.com Educators: Exact reprint for children and parents is permitted if credit to Fruit-Eze, Inc. is retained.