Digestive System - Gross!
Click here to watch the video we viewed in class.
Here are the key points:
Mechanical digestion is the breakdown of food into smaller pieces by mashing, squeezing, chewing, etc.
Chemical digestion is the breakdown of food by chemical reactions
Mouth: mechanical digestion - chewing; chemical digestion - saliva is released by the salivary glands
Esophagus: no digestion, just a tube for the food to pass from your mouth to your stomach (takes about 5 seconds)
Stomach: mechanical digestion - churning and squeezing; chemical digestion: strong acid is released by the stomach wall;  the stomach's mucus lining protects the stomach from the acid
Small intestine: most of the nutrients from the food digested in the stomach are absorbed through the walls of the small intestine (absorption) and into the bloodstream where they travel to the cells of the body
Large intestine: water is removed from the undigested material (all the left-over stuff) and it becomes more solid
Liver: releases bile to help digestion
Pancreas: releases insulin to help digestion