When a person begins to eat food, the body's digestive system begins to work. The digestive system is the system of the body that is responsible for breaking down the food a person eats. The process of food being broken down is called digestion. Digestion allows the body to receive the nutrients and the energy from the food that is eaten. During digestion, all of the food a person eats is eventually turned into the fuel a person needs.
The system actually begins to work when a person sees or smells the food. Saliva, or spit, begins to form in the mouth. When the food is eaten, the saliva will begin to break down the chemicals in the food making it easy to swallow.
With the help of a person's tongue, the food then moves to the back of the mouth into the opening of the esophagus. The esophagus is about a 10-inch pipe that moves the food from the back of the throat to the stomach.
The stomach, another part of the digestive system, is the next stop for the food. It has three responsibilities: First, it stores the food, then breaks it down into a liquid mixture, and finally, it slowly empties the mixture into the small intestine. Inside the stomach, there are juices that help break down the food, as well as kill any bacteria that may be in the food.
1. What is digestion?
2. Why is digestion important to the human body?
3. Give a word to replace 'fuel' in paragraph 1.
4. Fully explain the role of saliva in the digestive system.
5. What is the length of the esophagus?
6. Why do you think it is important that the juices in the stomach kill any bacteria found in the food?
7. What part of speech is 'empties'?
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