Digestive System

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The Digestive System

Function:

    The function of the Digestive System is to get rid of waste, send nutrients to the body, and break down food into liquid. The Digestive System works with the Circulatory system, Muscular System, Urinary System, and the Nervous System

Organs:

      The organs of this system is the mouth that chews down the food making it mush. There is also the esophagus which acts as a tunnel so the food can go to the stomach- another organ of this system. The stomach stores food, turns it into liquid, and transfers that liquid into the small intestine. The small intestine breaks down the liquid mixture and absorbs all the contents of the food to use it for energy. There are three other organs that help the small intestine absorb the contents of the food. They are the pancreas, gallbladder, and the liver. The pancreas makes substances that help absorb the fats and proteins and the liver creates a substance that helps fat get into the bloodstream. The liver also removes and filters waste, distributes the contents of food, and makes nutrient rich blood.  After the small intestine absorbed all the contents of the food, it goes into the large intestine. The large intestine is where the now useless and consumed food is put through. As the consumed food reaches the colon, the body has its last chance to absorb anything it didn't. Then the final product of the food is pushed out through the rectum.

Interactions w/ Other Systems:

     The digestive system works with other systems by transporting nutrients, vitamins, fat, etc. to other parts of the body for energy. The liver also produces nutrient-rich blood and is used for the circulatory system to use.

Analogy:

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Explanation:

       The reason why I chose this as my analogy is because a using gas for a car is similar to eating food for humans. When a car is almost out of gas (energy/food), you go to the gas station. Once the gasoline is put into the car, it goes through a process similar to the digestive system. The gasoline is converted into energy used to power every part of the vehicle and then after all the contents of the gasoline is used, the waste product is CO2. This is similar to the digestive system because when you are in need of energy (food in this case), you eat. When you eat the food is converted into energy and the waste product is made.  

Structure and Function:
     The organ that I used for this section was the small intestine. The small intestine is a flexible tube that stretches to 20 feet. The function of the small intestine is to take all the contents of the food that is in it and use it for energy for the whole body. The small intestine is a 20 ft. long tube because it takes time for it to absorb all the contents of the food. If the small intestine was only 10 inches, you wouldn't get much out of the food you eat since the food will pass by really quick. Since the small intestine is 20 ft long, it allows the body to absorb as much food content as possible.

Sources:

KidsHealth. "Your Digestive System." KidsHealth - the Web's Most Visited Site about Children's Health. The Nemours Foundation, n.d. Web. 18 Oct. 2016. <http://kidshealth.org/kid/htbw/digestive_system.html>.