THE JOURNEY OF THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM LAB

PART 1: The Journey of the Digestive System

This video totally grossed my kids out, but I loved it!  Really cool perspective of the digestion journey!

PART 2:  Salivary Amylase and Other Digestive Enzymes

It took approximately 5.25 seconds to start tasting sweet - I think it was pretty fast.  I used a bit of bread since I didn't have salt free crackers.

Complete the chart.

Enzyme       Producing Organ  Site of Action     Substrate(s)

Sal. Amy.      Salivary Glands        Mouth                   Polysaccharides

Trypsin          Pancreas                 Small Intestine     Proteins

Lipase            Pancreas                 Small Intestine     Triglycerides

Pepsin            Stomach                  Stomach                Proteins


Questions.

1.  Name the end molecules of digestion for each of the following types of food.  In other words, what smaller pieces is each hydrolyzed into to be made available to the body?

a.  Proteins:  Break down into amino acids.

b.  Carbohydrates:  Break down into monosaccharides.

c.  Fats:  Break down into fatty acids and monoglycerides.


2.  Describe the process by which fats enter the blood.

Fat (or lipids) are digested by pancreatic and intestinal lipase's which break down the fat into fatty acids and monoglycerides.  The non-polar molecules are dissolved into micelles that are polar on the outside and non-polar on the inside.  This makes the molecules transportable to the the outside of a mucosal cell where it can be absorbed.  After it has reached the inside of the cell, both molecules come together again and form a triglyceride.  The triglycerides cluster together and are covered in proteins that make them water soluble.  At this point they are now called chylomicrons.  The chylomicrons now exit the cell via exocytosis and enter lacteals of the lymph vessels to be carried into blood vessels.

Part 3:  Food Tracker

The option I chose was My Weight Manager.  This one was the scariest for me, but I knew it would be beneficial and I was interested in what it was going to tell me.  After entering in my age, gender, height, weight and physical activity, the manager gave me my results.  It said that in order to reach my goal weight I needed to get at least 150 minutes of exercise a week and consume up to 1800 calories a day.  I need to eat 6 oz of grans, 2 1/2 cups of veggies, 1 1/2 cups of fruit, 3 cups of dairy and 5 oz of protein. I actually like having this information and signed up on the website to see if I can get more out of it.  Having solid numbers to go with helps me with creating attainable goals instead of winging it and hoping for the best!