The Digestive System
The Digestive System
Date
Class Grade 11
Learning objective(s) By the end of the lesson, the students should be able to:
Procedure
Entry behavior; The teacher introduces the lesson by revising with the characteristics
of living things with the learners.
Digestion is the breaking down of large molecules of food into simple and absorbable form
for use by the animals.
The digestive system includes the alimentary canal and all the organs associated with
digestion.
The alimentary canal is a tube running through the body. The inside of the alimentary
canal is lined with layers of cells forming what is called an epithelium. New cells in the
epithelium are being produced to replace worn out cells. There are also cells in the lining
that produce mucus. Mucus is a slimy liquid that lubricates the lining of the canal and
protects it from wear and tear. It also has a great many blood vessels in its walls, close to
the lining. The five main processes associated with digestion occur in the alimentary canal.
Ingestion; is the taking of substances such as food and drink into the body through the
mouth
Mechanical digestion; is the breakdown of food into smaller pieces without chemical
change of food substances
Chemical digestion; is the breakdown of large insoluble molecules into smaller soluble
molecules.
Absorption; is the movement of small food molecules into the cells of the body where
they are used
Assimilation; is the movement of digested food molecules into the cells of the body
where they are used becoming part of the cell
Egestion; is the passing out of food that has not been digested as faeces, through the
anus.
Peristalis
The alimentary canal has layers of muscle in its walls. The fibres of one layer of muscles run
around the canal (circular muscles) and the others run along the length(longitudinal length). A
contraction in one region is followed by another one just below so that waves of contraction
passes along the canal, pushing food in front of it. The wave of contraction is called peristalsis.
Gall bladder Stores bile, made in the liver, to be secreted into the
duodenum via the bile duct
Mechanical digestion
The process of mechanical digestion mainly occurs in the mouth by means of the teeth,
through a process called mastication. (revise dentition and structure of the tooth).
Chemical digestion
Digestion is a process that changes solid food to a solution with the help of enzymes. This
process takes place in different parts of the alimentary canal. They include;
The mouth
The act of taking food in the mouth is called ingestion. Saliva a digestive food is produced
in the mouth which helps lubricates food and make small pieces stick together. Saliva
contains salivary amylase which acts on cooked starch to maltose.
The stomach
The stomach has elastic walls, which stretch when food collects into it. The pyloric
sphincter is a circular band of muscles at the lower end of the stomach that stops solid
pieces of food from passing through. The main function of the stomach is to store food.
With the aid of physical digestion changes food into chyme. Glands in the lining of the
stomach produce gastric juice containing the enzyme protease which breaks down protein
into amino acid, it also produces hydrochloric acid which creates a degree of acidity for
the protease to work in and kills bacteria which may be take in with the food.
A pancreatic juice and bile are poured into the duodenum to act on the food there.
Enzymes such as protease breaks protein to amino acid, lipase digest fats to fatty acids
and glycerol. The pancreatic juice contains sodium hydrogencarbonate which neutralizes
the acid from the stomach as enzymes from the pancrease work better in an alkaline
condition.
What is bile?
Bile is a green watery fluid made in the liver and stored in the gall bladder and delivered to
the duodenum via the bile duct. It has no enzymes. Bile contains bile salts which acts on
fats to break them up for the enzyme lipase to act on it.
The small intestine consists of the duodenum and the ileum. Nearly all the absorption of
digested food takes place in the ileum, along with most of the water. Small molecules of
the digested food such as glucose and amino acid pass into the bloodstream while fatty
acids and glycerol pass into the lacteals connected to the lymphatic syatem.
The material passing into the large intestine consists of water with undigested matter,
largely cellulose and vegetable fibres, mucus and dead cells from the lining of the
alimentary canal. The large intestine secrets no enzymes but the bacteria in the colon
digest part of fibres to fatty acids.
Fats; are built into cell membrane and used as energy for cell metabolism.
Amino acids; they are built up into proteins, some proteins may become blood plasma and
cell membrane.
e
On Going Assessment why is trypsin and pepsin not active in the pancrease?
Outcome
Reflection
Summary
Conclusion By the end of the lesson the teacher gives and marks the
notes.