Digestive System; Urinary System

• Kidneys

  • Filter gallons of fluid from the bloodstream
  • Process filtrate, allowing wastes and excess ions to leave the body in urine while returning needed substances to the blood in just the right proportions
• Kidney

  • Pair of small dark red organs with a kidney-bean shape
  • Adult kidney is about 12cm long, 6cm wide and 3 cm thick
  • Lies against the dorsal body wall, right at the border at the thoracic and lumbar region
• Functions of the digestive system

  1. Ingestion

  2. Propulsion

  3. Food breakdown (mechanical)

  4. Food breakdown (digestion)

  5. Absorption

  6. Defecation
• Ingestion

  The process of taking food, drink, or another substance into the body by swallowing
• Propulsion

  The voluntary process of swallowing and the involuntary process of peristalsis
• Food breakdown (mechanical)


  Physically fragmenting the food into smaller particles
• Food breakdown (digestion)


  Chemically breaking down small food molecules into their building blocks using enzymes
• Absorption


  The transport of the building blocks from the GI tract to the blood or lymph
• Defecation


  Elimination of indigestible solid material through the anus
• Propulsion


  The movement of food through the digestive system through the contraction and relaxation of muscles.
• Ingestion


  The process of taking in food through the mouth.
• Food breakdown (digestion)


  The process of breaking down food molecules into smaller units that can be absorbed by the body through enzymes.
• Food breakdown (mechanical)


  The physical breakdown of food into smaller pieces to increase the surface area for enzymes to act on during digestion.
• Defecation


  The elimination of undigested material from the body.
• Absorption


  The process of absorbing digested food molecules into the bloodstream through the walls of the small intestine.