The Digestive System
By Isabella Lieto and Olivia Riordan
What is the digestive system?
The digestive system is a group of organs working together
to convert food into energy and basic nutrients to feed the
entire body.
The functions
● Ingestion
● Secretion
● Mixing and movement
● Digestion
● Absorption
● Excretion
How the digestive system maintains homeostasis
The digestive system maintains homeostasis because “your
digestive system is quite complex and so many factors come
to help digest food and get essential nutrients required for
repair of any damage to the walls of digestive system.”
organs
● Mouth
● Esophagus
● Stomach
● Small intestine
● Pancreas
● Liver
● Gallbladder
● Colon (big intestine)
● Rectum
● Anus
The mouth
The mouth is the beginning of the digestive tract.
Digestion starts when you take your first bite of food.
Chewing breaks down the food into small pieces that can be
easy to digest.
When your saliva mixes with the food it begins the process
of breaking that food down into a form where your body can
absorb and use it.
esophagus
Your esophagus is in your throat near your
trachea(windpipe).
This receives the food from your mouth when you swallow it.
By a series of muscular contractions called peristalsis your
esophagus delivers the food to your stomach.
stomach
Your stomach is an organ also known as a “container” that
holds the food while it is being mixed with enzymes that
continue the process of breaking down food into useable
form.
When the contents of your stomach are sufficiently
processed, they are released into the small intestine.
Small intestine
This is made up of three segments- the duodenum, jejunum,
and ileum.
This is a 22 foot long muscular tube that breaks down the
food using enzymes released by the pancreas and bile from
the liver.
The contents of the small intestine start out semi-solid and
then they end in a liquid form after it passes through the
organ.
pancreas
This organ is secretes digestive enzymes into the duodenum.
The enzymes break down protein, fats, and carbohydrates.
This organ also makes insulin, secreting it directly into
the bloodstream.
Liver
This has multiple functions but its main function within the
digestive system is to process the nutrients absorbed from
the small intestine.
The liver is the body’s chemical “factory”.
The liver takes the raw materials absorbed by the intestine
and it makes all the various chemicals that the body needs
to function.
Gallbladder
The gallbladder stores and concentrates bile, and then it
releases it into the duodenum that helps absorb and digest
the fats.
colon(big intestine)
This is a 6 foot long muscular tube that connects the small
intestine to the rectum.
Stool, or waste left over from the digestive process, is
then passed through the colon by means of peristalsis, first
in a liquid state and ultimately in a solid form. As this
passes through the colon, water is removed.
When the descending colon becomes full of stool, or feces,
it empties its contents into the rectum to begin the process
of elimination.
rectum
This organs job is to receive stool from the colon, to let
the person know that there is stool to be evacuated, and to
hold the stool until evacuation happens.
When anything comes into the rectum it sensors a message to
the brain. The brain then decides if the rectal contents can
be released or not.
Anus
This is the last part of the digestive tract.
The lining of this organ is specialized to detect rectal
contents. It lets you know whether the contents are a
liquid, a gas or a solid.
This is surrounded by sphincter muscles that are important
in allowing control of stool.
References
http://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/the-structure-
and-function-of-the-digestive-system
http://www.newhealthadvisor.com/How-Does-the-Digestive-Syste
m-Maintain-Homeostasis.html
http://www.innerbody.com/image/digeov.html
