The Human Body: Digestive System

We really have been doing more than Bible and Science around here. I just can't seem to find the time or the energy to blog about it...hopefully soon! However, I do want to update on our study of the human body. It is so fun to hear Lexy dialouge with Josiah about the things that she is learning. She will say things like, "Look, here is a joint. It helps you bend." Or, "Josiah, drink your milk so that you can get calcium to make your bones strong." Sometimes the dialouge is much longer as she tries to describe different processes of the body to him. It is cute to hear her version of what she has learned.

Our study this week took us through the digestive system, and Lexy was fascinated. Once again, most of her learning happened through looking at pictures in Human Body books and talking about them. Here is a list of a few books that we used:

1. The Digestive System by Darlene R. Stille - This book was written in simple enough language that Lexy could comprehend. There were a few parts that went into a little more detail than she was interested in.
2. Eating Right by Elizabeth Vogel
3. The Quest to Digest by Mary K. Corcoran - This book is definitely geared toward older kids, but the illustrations and the way in which it was written grabbed her attention.

Before reading the books or doing any experiments, I asked Lexy where the food that she ate went to. She pointed to her leg. She later found out that she was partly correct. When food travels through the small intestines, the nutrients from the food are absorbed into the bloodstream and taken all through the body.

Experiments:

We talked about whether we could still digest food if we were upside down. How could it to down? We hung upside down while eating a cracker to investigate. She discovered that the food still went down.To show why, we took a tube of toothpaste (I had to remind myself that this wasn't wasting since it was being used for an experiment) and squeezed it. We turned it both ways and watched the toothpaste come out. The esophagus is much like the tube. It is a muscle that pushes the food the direction that it needs to go.

Lessons Learned:

1. Food travels through the body through the digestive system.
2. The digestive system is made up of the esophagus, stomach, small intestines, and large intestines. She can point these out on a diagram.
3. The stomach churns food and mixes it with "stomach juices" which break the food down.
4. Nutrients from the foods go all through the body.
5. Food that can't be digested exits the body.
6. To prevent germs from getting onto the foods we eat, we should wash our hands before we eat.
7. You can help foods move through the digestive system by eating plenty of fruits and vegetables.

Next week, we will wrap up our study of the human body by looking at the brain (not literally).

Other Human Body Lessons:
1. Muscles
2. Bones and Lungs
3. The Five Senses, The Heart, and Book List
4. Introduction