Lesson 6 of 9

The journey of food

Goal: Describe what happens to food in each organ.

Puzzles for this lesson

Food takes a day or two to travel along the gut. Each organ does its own job on the way.

The gut of an adult, stretched out straight and drawn to scale. It is about 8 metres long.

Muscles move the food. Muscle in the wall of the gut squeezes behind the food and pushes it along.
Digestion is completed in the small intestine. The small food molecules are absorbed into the blood there.
Water is absorbed in the large intestine. What is left forms faeces. They are stored in the rectum and leave through the anus.

Your turn

This lesson’s activity starts here in a moment.

I can put the organs in order.I can say where digestion finishes and where water is absorbed.

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Digestion Breaking large food molecules into small ones

Stomach A bag where food is mixed with acidic juices

Small intestine Where digestion is completed and food is absorbed into the blood

Large intestine Where water is absorbed and faeces are formed

For teachers: AQA 3.8.4 · Pearson Edexcel 5.1