My stomach would be,
Heaped high with congestion,
If my body just wouldn’t,
Engage in digestion…
A series of tubes,
Like plumbers have pipe…
Lets my food move,
Quite raw or quite ripe!
Stuff food in my mouth,
Chew with my teeth,
Add some saliva,
The juice it secretes…
Swallowing time?
Down the esophagus!
Gets to the stomach,
Let’s stay on top of this…
Stomach muscles are churning,
Break up the food,
Adding enzymes and acids,
And sounding quite rude…
The food will move on,
Peristalsis will push,
The food will move on,
As it turns into mush…
Small intestine comes next,
The next organ for fun,
Nutrients absorbed,
And it’s almost all done…
Large intestine absorbs!
Removes excess water,
Before food’s back out,
Just like it oughta…
Yes, there would be,
Heaps of congestion,
If my body didn’t,
Engage in digestion…
Watch Mr. R.’s Digestion Song Video
The digestive system enables the body to get nutrients from food that is ingested through the mouth. It is made of a series of large, hollow organs that let food pass through them.
The process of digestion begins in the mouth where food is chewed into smaller pieces and mixed with saliva. Saliva aids in the digestion of starches before the food is swallowed and travels down the esophagus. The esophagus transports the food from the mouth to the stomach by using a series of wavelike movements called peristalsis.
In the stomach, the food is churned by muscles and mixed with digestive juices. Different types of food need different amounts of time to be digested in the stomach. Carbohydrates take the least amount of time to digest, while fats need the most.
After the stomach, the food is pushed into the small intestine where it is further mixed with digestive juices, including those supplied by the pancreas and liver. The nutrients are then absorbed through the intestinal walls to be used by the body.
What remains of the food is then passed to the large intestine where water is absorbed back into the body. The waste products of the digestive process include undigested parts of the food, known as fiber, and old cells. These materials are pushed into the colon, where they remain until the feces are expelled by a bowel movement.