Goodpasture students enjoyed two weeks of labs covering the digestive system. Our Bible infusion for the labs came from Daniel 1: 8 - 16, and it covered the story of Daniel's refusal to eat the King's "rich" food. We will cover this more fully after the Thanksgiving break, as we wrap up the semester with healthy diet labs!
The objectives of the digestion labs was for students to be able to describe and analyze mechanical and chemical digestion in the mouth and in the stomach. Students were also introduced to various areas and organs associated with the digestive tract, including palate, tongue, teeth, pharynx, epilgottis, esophagus, stomach, gall bladder, liver, appendix, small intestine and large intestine (colon).
In week one, students reviewed the scientific method based upon the hypothesis that different foods digest differently. They learned that digestion begins in the mouth as they experimented with a variety of food. They observed and collected data as they placed these foods -- oyster crackers, apple slices, popcorn, carrot slices and chocolate -- in their mouths. Results were recorded, and the hypothesis was proven correct.
The students enjoyed the "Chewing Cracker" activity, as they witnessed first hand the changes that occurred the longer the cracker was chewed. They recorded data about the changes in taste and texture of the crackers.
In week two, we moved our study to the lower part of the digestive tract. Students saw yarn models of the various lengths of the esophagus (10 inches); the stomach (8 inches); the small intestine (23 feet) and the large intestine (5 feet). Most couldn't believe that they had that much "intestine" in them! They all enjoyed making a stomach model from a gallon bag, banana pieces, crackers, water and food coloring. They should all have a good visual remembrance of the texture and appearance of food in the stomach.
We watched an excellent Scholastic video in
The Magic School Bus series called
For Lunch. Again, I think this visual imagery will stick with them for a long time!
We finished our digestion study with a rousing round of "Bite It Bingo," as a fun reinforcement of what we have learned!
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| Our buffet of good food to experiment with mouth digestion! |
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| Gabrielle shows her yummy chocolate piece! |
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| Elizabeth mixes water for the stomach model. |
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| Amy and Elizabeth squish the food just like our stomach muscles do! |
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| The 6th grade girls really liked the stomach model! |
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| "Bite It" Bingo! |
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| They were proud of the finished product! |
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| Abby hard at work on her mouth digestion picture. |
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| Sean working on his mouth digestion pic! |
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| Great video on digestion! |
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| The ingredients for the Stomach Lab are ready! |
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| More "Bite It" Bingo fun! |
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| Bella and Brooklyn are really concentrating! |
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| Evie thought this was gross!! |
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| Will is really performing some mechanical digestion on the bag! |
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| Scarlett thinks this is cool! |
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| Isabelle is not too sure about this! |
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| Hayden working on his digestion mouth picture. |
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| Cooper did a great job! |
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| Bella and Taylor chewing crackers! |
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| "Bite It" Bingo is SWEET! |
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| Sadie and Audry liked the model! |
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| Mack working on his digestion picture. |
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| Emily and Jordan create a stomach model! |
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| Emily and Jordan begin the model. |
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| Samantha is not sure about this experiment! |
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| Jillian thinks it feels gooey! |
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| India's face says it al! |
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| Cooper demonstrates mechanical digestion. |
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| Cooper and Justin follow Mrs. Sweet's instructions carefully. |
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| Joan and Samantha are all smiles! |
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| Let's measure intestines! |
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| Scarlett did a great job! |
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| Ariel and India aren't so sure about this! |
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| Taylor and Sydney with their awesome stomach model! |
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| Fletcher and Joan show the class that the small intestine is about 23 feet long! |
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| Ari and Jillian work on their stomach model. |
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| Lofton is really concentrating on "Bite It" Bingo! |
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| Ewan likes the goldfish tokens! |
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| Tyler hypothesized that the carrot piece would not break down easily in his mouth! He was correct! |
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| This group is excited about the oyster crackers! |
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| Alex understands that digestion begins in his mouth! |
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| Kyle did a great job on his pic! |
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| Cooper is ready to experiment! |
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Sasha thinks her pic is perfect! It is!
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