The digestive system breaks down food into nutrients that the body can use. Food moves through the gastrointestinal tract where digestive juices break it down. The small intestine absorbs nutrients into the bloodstream while waste is eliminated as stool. Key parts include the mouth, esophagus, stomach, liver, pancreas, small and large intestines. Hormones and nerves regulate the process. Diseases can affect any part of the system.

1. PARTS & FUNCTIONS

2. WHAT IS THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM?
HOW DOES THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM WORK?
WHY IS DIGESTION IMPORTANT?
PARTS OF THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
HOW IS THE DIGESTIVE PROCESS CONTROLLED?
DIGESTIVE SYSTEM DISEASES

3. The digestive system
is a group of organs
working together to
convert food into
energy and basic
nutrients to feed the
entire body.
WHAT IS THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM?

4. Digestion is important for
breaking down food into nutrients, which
the body uses for energy, growth, and cell
repair. Food and drink must be changed
into smaller molecules of nutrients before
the blood absorbs them and carries them
to cells throughout the body.
WHY IS DIGESTION IMPORTANT?

5. CARBOHYDRATES

6. PROTEIN

7. FATS

8. VITAMINS

9. The digestive system works by moving food through the
GI tract. Digestion begins in the mouth with chewing and
ends in the small intestine. As food passes through the
GI tract, it mixes with digestive juices, causing large
molecules of food to break down into smaller molecules.
The body then absorbs these smaller molecules through
the walls of the small intestine into the bloodstream,
which delivers them to the rest of the body. Waste
products of digestion pass through the large intestine
and out of the body as a solid matter called stool.
HOW DOES THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM WORK?

10. PARTS OF THE DIGESTIVE
SYSTEM
ESOPHAGUS
MOUTH
STOMACHLIVER
PANCREAS
SMALL
INTESTINE
LARGE
INTESTINE
RECTUM
GALL
BLADDER
ANUS
PHARYNX

11. THE MOUTH
•The mouth is where food first begins its
journey
•Also known as the Oral Cavity

12. THE PHARYNX
•The pharynx, or throat, is a funnel-shaped
tube connected to the posterior end of the
mouth. The pharynx is responsible for the
passing of masses of chewed food from
the mouth to the esophagus.

13. THE ESOPHAGUS
•The muscular tube that carries food and
liquids from the mouth to the stomach.

14. THE STOMACH
•The stomach stores swallowed food and
liquid, mixes the food and liquid with
digestive juice it produces, and slowly
empties its contents, called chyme, into
the small intestine.

15. THE GALL BLADDER
•The gall bladder is a small, pear-shaped organ
located just posterior to the liver. The
gallbladder is used to store and recycle excess
bile from the small intestine so that it can be
reused for the digestion of subsequent meals.

16. THE LIVER
•The liver is a roughly triangular accessory
organ of the digestive system located to
the right of the stomach, just inferior to
the diaphragm and superior to the small
intestine.

17. THE SMALL INTESTINE
•The small intestine is a long, thin tube
about 1 inch in diameter and about 10 feet
long that is part of the lower
gastrointestinal tract.

18. THE LARGE INTESTINE
•The large intestine absorbs water and any
remaining nutrients and changes the waste from
liquid into stool. The rectum stores stool until it
pushes stool out of the body during a bowel
movement.

19. THE PANCREAS
•The pancreas secretes digestive enzymes
into the small intestine to complete the
chemical digestion of foods.

20. THE RECTUM
•The rectum is a chamber that begins at
the end of the large intestine, immediately
following the sigmoid colon, and ends at
the anus

21. THE ANUS
•The anus is the opening at the far end of the
digestive tract through which stool leaves the
body.

22. HOW IS THE DIGESTIVE PROCESS
CONTROLLED?
Hormone and nerve regulators control the digestive
process.
•Hormone Regulators
oThe cells in the lining of the stomach and small intestine produce
and release hormones that control the functions of the digestive
system.
•Nerve Regulators
oTwo types of nerves help control the action of the digestive
system: extrinsic and intrinsic nerves.

23. DIGESTIVE SYSTEM DISEASES
•Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD)
•Jaundice
•Diverticulosis/diverticulitis
•Cirrhosis
•Portal hypertension
•Esophageal varices
•Dysphagia
•Crohn’s Disease
•Peritonitis

25. Parts Of
The Teeth

27. • The crown is what you see
when you smile or open your
mouth. It’s the part that sits
above your gum line.

28. • Enamel protects
the tooth from the
wear and tear of
chewing.

29. Dentin supports the enamel on
your teeth. It’s a yellow bone-
like material that’s softer than
enamel and carries some of the
nerve fibres that tell you when
something is going wrong inside
your tooth.

30. •The Pulp is the centre of
the tooth. It’s a soft
tissue that contains
blood and lymph
vessels, and nerves.

31. • Cementum is what covers
most of the root of the tooth.
It helps to attach the tooth to
the bones in your jaw. A
cushioning layer called
the Periodontal

32. •Ligament sits between
the cementum and the
jawbone. It helps to
connect the two.

33. •Bone: Provides a
socket to surround
and support the roots
of the teeth.

34. Gingivae (gums): Soft tissue
that immediately surrounds
the teeth and bone. It protects
the bone and the roots of the
teeth and provides an easily
lubricated surface.

35. • Root canals are part of a
tooth, the hollows within a
tooth where the nerve tissue,
blood vessels, and some other
cells are located.