Science Reviewer

• Digestion


  The chemical and/or mechanical breakdown of food into particles that can be absorbed by the individual cells of an organism
• Nutrition


  The process wherein the body obtains food (eating process)
• Parts of the Digestive System

  • Mouth
  • Pharynx
  • Esophagus
  • Stomach
  • Small Intestine
  • Large Intestine (Colon)
  • Rectum
  • Appendix
• Mouth


  • The entry point of the food, where digestion begins
• Food movement from mouth to esophagus

  Food is chewed, bolus is pushed by tongue against palate, forcing it to move toward pharynx and esophagus
• Pharynx


  Connects the mouth and esophagus, serves as the passageway for both food and air
• Esophagus


  A muscular tube (food tube) that is approximately 25 cm long, food is pushed down further into the stomach through peristalsis
• Stomach


  A muscular, expandable organ located on the left side of the upper abdomen, receives food from the esophagus
• Chyme


  Semifluid acidic mixture
• Parts of the Small Intestine


  • Duodenum
  • Jejunum
  • Ileum
• Duodenum


  For digestion and neutralization of the chyme's acidity
• Jejunum and Ileum


  Responsible for the absorption of nutrients coming from the digested food into the bloodstream in the walls of small intestines
• Large Intestine (Colon)


  Digestion does not happen here, responsible for the reabsorption of water and mineral salts, temporarily stores undigested food
• Rectum


  Expandable storage organ of undigested food, from where the stool or feces is released from the body through the anus
• Appendix


  A small, thin tube that sits at the lower right abdomen
• Accessory Organs


  • Pancreas
  • Liver
  • Gallbladder
• Pancreas


  A long narrow gland that stretches from the spleen to about halfway through the duodenum
• Liver


  The largest organ of the body in terms of mass and also the largest gland, produces bile that aids chemical digestion by helping the small intestine with the emulsification and digestion of lipids
• Emulsification


  A process of breaking down large lipid globules into several small lipid globules
• Gallbladder


  A green pear-shaped sac which stores and concentrates excess bile and releases bile only when needed in the small intestine