Digestive System Lab

1/5/16

Digestive System Lab

1. In this lab, we created a length of string and ribbon that was close to the actual length of our alimentary tract. One of the main takeaways from this activity was the order in which food travels through the tract. It also gave me an idea of the true length of the tube, which was particularly intriguing considering that you can never see your own alimentary tract (if you can, that's a problem). Data table is at the bottom of the post.
2. I am 1.524 m tall. My alimentary tract is 8.374 m, which is almost 6 to 7 times my height. All that fits within my abdomen due to endless coils and folds that make the organs fit in such a small space.
3. I hypothesize that it takes about 6 hours for food to move through the entire digestive system. The internet, specifically WebMD, tells me that it takes 6-8 hours for food to pass through the body. It depends on how much food you eat and what kind of food you eat.
4. Digestion is different than absorption because it is the breakdown of food (mechanically and chemically) while absorption is taking the broken down parts and nutrients and absorbing then into the body. Digestion uses the mouth, stomach, and a small bit of the small intestine. Most of the absorption happens in the small intestine and the large intestine.
5. I want to know more about how the specific chemicals in the stomach work, such as pepsin. Also, I would like to know a tad more about each section of the small/ large intestine.
   

   Digestive Organ	Color and Length (cm)
   Mouth	pink ribbon/ 11.3 cm
   Esophagus	green ribbon/ 45.2 cm
   Stomach	blue ribbon/ 18.9 cm
   Small Intestine	white string/ 240 in x 2.54= 609.6 cm
   Large Intestine	red ribbon/ 60 in x 2.54 = 152.4 cm
   TOTAL	837.4 cm or 8.374 m

Some of the lengths of fellow classmates' alimentary tracts