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The Digestive System
Objectives
To investigate the different parts of the digestive system.
To understand the importance of each organ in the digestive process.
Resources
Lined paper
Today's Lesson
Main Activity
Discuss digestion with your child. Ask what sort of foods they think are digested easily and which ones might pass through the system without being digested at all. Find some pictures, real foods or packets that you have at home. Sort them into foods that look easy to digest and foods that look harder to digest. Make a list of each.
The fibre in fruit and vegetables cannot be digested by our bodies. However, it is very important, because it forces the muscles in the digestive system to work hard, thus giving them exercise. It also prevents constipation. Talk about the consistency of different foods eaten. The best thing we can do to our digestive system is to chew food thoroughly, before swallowing. That way, the nutrients can begin to be absorbed very early on. When someone has been ill, it is very good to feed them pureed vegetables and fruit, so that they can absorb all the nutrients the food has to offer.
Access the internet to investigate foods which provide our systems with the best nutritional benefits. Compare these to foods, which we term ‘junk foods’ and create a menu for the day (or week) which contains the best foods for us. List the colours of the foods. Then the same for junk food. List the colours of the foods. What do you notice between the different colours? Hopefully healthy foods will be colourful and junk foods brown and beige.
