Digest This!

Digest This! KS2 

Duration 1 hour, max capacity 30 students 

Follow the journey of food through our digestive system, from slicing and cutting with teeth to the inevitable exit at the other end! Explore all the parts of the digestive system, their functions, and understand their involvement in the digestion and absorption of nutrients.

Key words

Digestion, Nutrition, Food, Human body, Teeth, Enzymes, Models.

Learning objectives

Identify the key nutrient groups and the foods they are found in.

Understand the components of a balanced diet.

Learn about the different parts of the digestive system and the role of each in digestion.

Learn about teeth and their role in the mechanical breakdown of food in the mouth.

Understanding that digestive enzymes chemically break down food so that it can enter our bloodstream.

Learn that the conditions inside the digestive system are important to its functioning.

Understanding that digestive enzymes break down food so that it can enter our blood stream.

Recognise that not all food can be digested, and that fibre is crucial to a healthy digestive system.

Content

Discuss the nutrient content of a sandwich and identify the major nutrient groups.

Represent a balanced diet on a pie chart.

Label the different parts of the digestive system.

Model the action of different human tooth types by breaking up real food and adding it to a ‘stomach’.

Investigate why the enormous surface area of our gut is important for efficient absorption of nutrients.

See their chopped-up food be processed through our giant intestines machine and observe what happens to undigested food.

Curriculum links

Science: Animals, including humans

Identify that animals, including humans, need the right types and amount of nutrition, and that they cannot make their own food; they get nutrition from what they eat.

Describe the simple functions of the basic parts of the digestive system in humans.

Identify the different type of teeth in humans and their simple functions.

Describe the ways in which nutrients and water are transported within animals, including humans.

Potential hazards and accessibility

Use of bread and other sources of cereals that contain gluten.