Anatomy & Physiology
Ms. Buchalski
Name ______________________________________Date___________
“What’s
happening to your pizza??”
Digestive System Review Activity
Directions: We are here today not only to have a delicious lunch, but also to review our digestive system and
prepare you for your test! You will never eat another thing again without thinking about the pathway of digestion
and what’s happening as you chew and swallow your food. It is important that you use this sheet as you consume
your food and answer the questions during each process. Happy eating!!
How to eat pizza… :
Step 1: Take a bite! Yum! Now masticate! Why do we chew our food?
______________________________________________________________________________________
Right now your ________________ glands are secreting an enzyme called ______________ ________________
that works to begin digesting what kind of macromolecule? ____________________
Ok so you’ve chewed up your pizza, mixed in some spit and enzymes and have now produced a nice little ball of
food that you are ready to swallow. What is this little ball called? ______________________
Step 2: Swallow the chewed up pizza. (These directions are really tough)
List the first 4 organs the food is currently traveling through beginning with where the food entered.
a. ________________
b. ________________
c. ________________
d. ________________
Once you swallow, the muscle of the digestive tract begins an involuntary process known as _________________
What if you were to swallow something upside down? Is the food able to defy the laws of gravity? Why?
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Because this process is involuntary, what type of muscle must make up the digestive tract? _________________
CONGRATULATIONS! You have successfully swallowed your pizza (I hope). Unless you had some trouble
and it “went down the wrong pipe”. Which pipe do I mean? _____________________
If it did in fact go down this structure, explain anatomically what happened.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Which sphincter did the food have to pass through before entering the stomach? _________________________
Step 3: Rub your belly, the pizza is finally in there! List the regions of the stomach that the pizza is currently
traveling through starting from the top of the J to the bottom
1)_____________ 2)____________3)____________ 4)______________
The pizza will now be broken down further by a substance called ____________________ ________ which has a
pH of _______!!
How come the rest of your body doesn’t dissolve if this acid is present? _________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
What substances are currently being digested & by which enzymes? ____________________________________
Anatomy & Physiology
Ms. Buchalski
Name ______________________________________Date___________
What substances are currently being absorbed (or COULD be absorbed here even if they aren’t present in the
pizza)?____________________________________________________
Your food has now been mixed with stomach acids and has a different name. What is it called? ______________
Step 4: While you are finishing eating the rest of your pizza and continuing on throughout the next hour or so,
the food will travel through the sphincter located at the bottom of the stomach called the __________________
sphincter. It will then enter the ___________________ __________________.
There are 2 other organs that are involved in secreting different substances and delivering them to the small
intestines to aid digestion. List the organs as well as their secretions
a) _______________ secretes ____________________ (which is stored in the ___________________)
b) ________________ secretes ________________________________________________________
The 3 parts of the small intestine listed in the order of which food travels are:
a) _____________________ b) ______________________ c) _________________________
Which substances are absorbed in the small
intestine?__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Why is the small intestines the best area for absorption? (hint!- what does the small intestines have that the other
organs don’t?)________________________________________________
Step 5: After leaving the small intestine, the food enters the _____________ _______________. The primary
function of this organ is to ____________________________________________________________________.
The first part of the large intestine is called the _____________ which also has a small vestigial structure attached
to it known as the ____________________. Sometimes people get this structure removed when it becomes
inflamed. It can also burst! Ahhh!
Anything left over at this point is considered to be waste which will travel through the 4 parts of the large intestine
a)_____________________
b)_____________________
c)_____________________
d)_____________________
LASTLY… the solid waste is stored in the ______________ until it is ready to be excreted where it will pass
through the last 2 sphincters. The 1st sphincter is ____________________ but the 2nd sphincter is
_________________ which allows us to have control over bowel movements. (phew!)
Your pizza has successfully traveled through your digestive tract, also known as the ______________ _________.
WOOOHOOOO!!!!! Yay for Anatomy and pizza!!!! Good Luck on your test!