The Journey Of The Cheese
Sandwich!
By Robert Harrington, 8D
The Mouth
• First the cheese sandwich will go into your
mouth! In the mouth the teeth and jaw muscles
will work together to break up the food into
smaller pieces, this makes it easier to digest.
• The saliva in your mouth allows you to taste the
food. Saliva also contains an enzyme. An enzyme
breaks down large molecules into small ones. The
enzyme in saliva begins to break down starch as
you chew.
• The mouth is located at the lower part of your
face above the chin.
The Gullet/Oesophagus
• The next part of the journey is in the gullet
which is sometimes called oesophagus, it is a
long tube in your neck. It can take as little as
2 seconds for the food to get down here! The
walls of the gullet contract to move the food
down into the stomach. The epiglottis closes
the door to the windpipe so the food can’t
go down there!
The Stomach
• Five seconds after swallowing your cheese
sandwich it will enter the stomach! A lot of things
happen in here! The hydrochloric acid in the
stomach kills most of the germs in your food, it
will also break down the protein in the cheese.
The muscles in the stomach walls mush the
cheese sandwich into a thick fluid called chyme.
• The food is then forced through the pyloric
sphincter into the small intestine.
• The stomach looks a bit like a J shaped bag and it
is located under the ribs.
The Small Intestine
• After going through the pyloric sphincter, the cheese
sandwich enters the small intestine! In here the food
is digested more into simple molecules and is also
put into the blood. The simple molecules include
glucose (from carbohydrates) which is in the bread,
amino acids (from protein) which is in the cheese
and fatty acids (from the fat).
• There are lots of enzymes in the small intestine
which are mixed with the food.
• Remains of undigested food are squeezed by the
muscles around the intestine, through to the large
intestine.
• The small intestine is located under the stomach and
is followed by the large intestine.
The Large Intestine
• After going through the small intestine, any
undigested food is squeezed into the large
intestine. Mainly the fibres from fruit, vegetables
and grain are found in here.
• The waste material in the large intestine are
called faeces. Too much water in the faeces
causes diarrhoea, but too little water in the
faeces causes constipation.
• The large intestine is located around the small
intestine and is connected to the rectum.
The Rectum
• This is the last part of the cheese sandwich’s
journey. Faeces are stored in the rectum until
you need to go to the toilet.
• The rectum is the last 6 to 8 inches of the
large intestine.
Diagram of the Digestive System
Mouth
Food Groups
• The 3 food groups in a cheese sandwich are:
• Carbohydrates-this is found in the bread of the
cheese sandwich and is mainly needed for
energy. Carbohydrates should make up about
50% of your diet.
• Protein-this is found in the cheese and is needed
to help us grow.
• Fat-this is also found in the cheese and provides
needed energy, but eating too many fatty foods
can be very unhealthy.