03 Food Energy

Similar to a car that needs energy to get where it is going, your body needs fuel so you can grow up healthy and strong. The digestive system takes care of the body's need for fuel. It is made up of a group of organs that work together.

The digestive system begins working the moment you put food into your mouth. The salivary glands in your mouth moisten the food and break it down into smaller and smaller pieces. Your teeth bite and grind the food until the pieces are small enough to swallow. Your tongue pushes the food to the back of your mouth so you can swallow.

As food leaves your mouth, it enters a tube called the esophagus. Gravity and muscles push food down to your stomach. There are strong acids in the stomach, which turn your food into a soupy liquid. However, your body still has not received energy from the food. Finally, your liquefi ed food passes into the small intestine. This is a long tube that coils back and forth inside your body. The food remains here for about six hours. During that time, special liquids digest the food even further and nutrients your body needs are pulled from it.

The things your body does not need pass into the large intestine. Water and minerals are absorbed out of the food over the next 10 to 36 hours. Then, after most of the liquid is removed, the rest of the leftover material passes out of the body as solid waste.

Word List

moisten : to make something wet

grind : to break into smaller pieces

You Practice

I. What does it do? Tell what the different parts of the body in the reading do.

1) salivary glands_________________________________________

2) teeth_________________________________________________

3) tongue_______________________________________________

4) small intestine_________________________________________

5) large intestine__________________________________________

II. Answer the following questions.

1) Where in the body does digestion begin?

2) How is your body similar to a car?

3) About how long does food remain in the small intestine?

4) How does food get from the mouth to the stomach?

5) How is food turned into liquid?

III. Read these sentences carefully. Write Yes or No for each one.

____ 1) We get energy from food that is in our mouth.

____ 2) The small intestine and the large intestine have the same job.

____ 3) Our tongue helps us swallow.

____ 4) Food remains in the large intestine longer than the small intestine.

____ 5) We need the digestive system to get fuel for our bodies.