This lesson will provide the students with an understanding of how food is digested. The students will observe a video displaying the body parts and functions of the digestive system. The students will make drawings of the digestive system from their observations. The students will act out a short play starring the key players, Mike Molar, Erin Esophagus, Stephanie Stomach, Sally Small Intestine, and Larry Large Intestine to demonstrate their knowledge of the digestive system.
ITV Series
Magic School Bus for Lunch (Scholastic/South Carolina
Educational TV)
Students will be able to:
(per class)
Vocabulary
blood -- the red liquid that flows throughout people and animals and carries oxygen and wastes through the veins and arteries.bloodstream-- the blood flowing through the body.
esophagus--a tube that connects the mouth and stomach, and through which food travels
large intestine--a long, tube-shaped part of the digestive system that continues below the stomach. The large intestine absorbs nutrients and carries away waste.
mouth--part of the body containing the tongue and teeth, where food is chewed.
muscle--a tissue of the body that tightens and relaxes causing the body to move.
nutrients--items such as food, that are nourishing and promote growth and good health.
pharynx-- the part of the canal between the mouth and the esophagus
saliva--a clear liquid made in the mouth to help in chewing and swallowing.
salivary glands-- glands where saliva is made.
small intestine-- a smaller, tube-shaped part of the digestive system that is found after the stomach, which continues to break food down into smaller pieces.
stomach-- a large pouch-like organ into which food passes from the mouth and throat, where the process of digestion begins.
teeth--hard objects found in the mouth used for biting and chewing
tongue--a movable body part in the mouth that is used in tasting and swallowing food.
villi--tiny hairlike parts growing out of the membrane of the small intestine which absorb nutrients into the bloodstream
waste--leftover material not digested by the body and then eliminated from the body.
The vocabulary will be presented on a chart to aid class discussion.
Sentences will be written using the vocabulary words on post-its. The students can volunteer to place post-its in the correct sentences.
Show the students plates filled with cut pieces of apple, banana and celery pieces. Ask, "Where do you think digestion begins? What do you think happens to the food you eat?" Then ask, "Can you eat a slice of apple without moving your tongue? Without moving your teeth?"
The focus for viewing is a specific responsibility or task(s) students are responsible for during or after watching the video to focus and engage
students' viewing attention. Say to the students, "Can you think of the names of the different body parts that are used when digestion takes place?" Watch the video to see if you were correct when predicting what happens to food after you eat it." Say, "You are going to watch a video that explains what happens to the pieces of food along the digestive tract."
Begin the video immediately following the introductory credits. Begin on the title screen showing Magic School Bus for Lunch.
Pause after Dorothy Ann says, "Your mouth is the first step in digestion." Ask,"Why do you think it is important for you to chew your food thoroughly? Accept all answers, i.e. so you don't choke, so that you don't swallow too much.
Resume video and pause after Miss Frizzle says, "Now that's more like it." Ask, "What did the rope that the skeleton swallowed represent?" Point out the parts of the digestive system to the students.
Resume the video and pause after, "So the first thing that happens to food when it gets digested is that you cut and grind it into smaller pieces." Ask, "Where does digestion first start to take place?"
Resume video and pause after, "The esophagus is where your food goes after you swallow." Ask, "What does the esophagus look like? And how does the food travel down this tube?" Remind students that this tube is lined with muscles that are constantly contracting, forcing the food down from the mouth. It takes an average of 10 seconds to swallow the mouthful of food to your stomach.
Resume video and pause after, "The stomach is the next step in digestion." Ask, "Do you think that the rest of digestion will take place in the stomach?"
Resume video and pause after, "And that is only half of what we do here at United Digestion." Ask, "What jobs do the teeth do? Accept all answers, i.e.the teeth tear, grind and crush the food. Ask, "What would be a reason for having acid in your stomach?" Remind students that stomach acids break down foods and dissolve them into a liquid.
Resume the video and pause after, "The doorway to his small intestine." Ask, "Why do you suppose the opening to the small intestine is not always open?
Resume the video and pause after, "Some things are too tough to be broken up and dissolved." Ask, "Has anyone ever swallowed something that they shouldn't have? i.e. penny or seeds." Ask, "Did you have to go to the doctor's office?"
Resume video and pause after, "They are soaking up the food like a sponge." Ask, "What do the villi do?
Resume the video and pause after, "We believe in turning foods into fuel." Ask, "If the villi soak up the food like a sponge, how are the nutrients delivered?" Remind the students that the bloodstream carries the nutrients to all parts of the body.
Resume the video and pause after, "Removes the water from the leftovers." Ask, "What are the functions of the large intestine?" Accept answers similar to the fact that the large intestine carries the remainder of the waste out of the body and removes all the water from the leftovers.
Distribute worksheet of the human body. Have the children recreate the trip that the children on the Magic School Bus have taken through the body stopping again near the end of the large intestine.
Restart Magic School Bus for Lunch from the point where you left off. Pause the tape to have students think of a solution to Wanda's question, "What are we gonna do, gonna do, gonna do?"
Resume the video and pause after Arnold asks, "How come it's alright to drink Wanda's seltzer?" Ask the students, "Why do you think seltzer and not some other liquid will help?"
Resume the video and pause after the Magic School Bus flies out of Arnold's mouth. Ask, "What do we know happens when you drink a carbonated beverage?" Resume video and play to the end.
Say, "We are now going to work together to put on a short play about the digestive system using some of the information that you received by watching the video." Ask the students who some of the characters of the play could be.
Distribute the copies of the play to the students. Allow sufficient time for the
class to read through the introductory paragraph and to choose a part. Once all the parts have been chosen or assigned, provide the class with some materials that might highlight their parts such as a body part name tag with drawings. Ask that the children come up and demonstrate the location of their body part on the chart or torso.
Allow the class sufficient time to complete the play. Reserve additional time for the class to produce the play again by exchanging roles.
Plan a trip to a local hospital to view real x-rays and to talk with a doctor.
Invite a pharmacist to discuss different products used for stomach ailments.
Invite a nutritionist to discuss food groups and good eating habits
Art: Using large rolls of white paper, have each child trace the outline of another student's body while lying down on the white paper. Once the outline has been completed each child could begin to add features and the internal organs that are used in the digestive system. These could be drawn free hand or could be traced from prepared "Construct a Gut" patterns. Add color and label all parts.
Language Arts: Write a story from the stomach's point of view.
Literature: Read the book, What Happens to a Hamburger by Paul Showers (The Trumpet Club) to the students. The students could make a large class booklet featuring their favorite foods.
Math: The alimentary canal is a tube beginning at your mouth and ending at the anus. In an average adult, this tube measures 27 feet in length. Have the students use rulers to measure out 27 feet and then cut a length of yarn the exact same length. Using a cutout adult paper model, have the children lay the length of yarn down on the paper model, extending it from the mouth to the anus.
Math: Explain to the students that the digestive system is a truly remarkable machine and that during a person's lifetime it may process between 60,000 and 100,000 pounds of food. Using a small scale, have the students predict how many apples, grapes or peanuts might be needed to make just one pound.
Then divide the class into small groups and have the children weigh the individual objects so that each group obtains one pound of weight. Check all predictions.
Science: Explain to the students that a stomach makes an acid that helps it digest food. That acid is called hydrochloric acid. Explain to the students that you can make a model of a stomach to see how that acid breaks down food.
You will need these materials:
Put the piece of beef in the jar. Pour the diluted hydrochloric acid into the jar. It should cover the beef. (Caution: Some acids burn. If an acid spills on you, wash it off.) Put the jar in a safe place for one day. The next day, look at the beef. What happened to the beef?
Art: Construct-A-Gut
Using paper models and crayons, the students will be able to create and color life-sized (child-sized) models of their digestive systems. Before beginning, ask the children to predict how long the finished product will be. Do they think it will be as tall as one of them? As tall as the teacher? As long as the room? The following illustrations are accurately sized. You will need to make 18-20 copies of the small intestine (per child) and 4-5 copies of the large intestine (per child). Copy the stomach and esophagus only once. After reproducing the drawings, have the students cut them out and color them as coded (P=pink, B=blue, R=red, T=tan). Once they're colored and cut, staple the pieces together in order. Lay the completed model on the floor and let the children measure the length. This paper digestive system will be about 6 m long, the approximate length of a child's digestive system. (Hint: at this point, you can begin asking questions about why the intestines are so long. The length is needed because it provides enough surface area to absorb all the food that is eaten each day). When displaying the completed digestive system, the intestines can be held in place by a clear plastic bag.
Language Arts: The students may recite the poem, "The Digestive System."
Math/Science: Ask the students to keep a seven-day eating chart during the study of the digestive system. After the seven days the children will be able to calculate how many servings they have had of the milk group, the protein group, the fruit/vegetable group and the bread/cereal group. Based on the recommended daily servings, they will have eaten a well balanced diet for a day, or for the week. As another lesson aside from the recommended food groups, each child could calculate his/her daily caloric intake. As each item of food is listed, a caloric amount could be recorded next to it. Totals for the day could be compared with the recommended caloric chart for children. This could also be kept for the week.
All About You , grades K-3 programs: It's What You Eat and Getting Rid of Waste
Distributed by AIT; call 800-457-4509 for more information
3-2-1 Classroom Contact , grades 3-6
Program #7- Digestion: The Inside StoryDistributed by GPN; call 800-228-4630 for more information