Practice identifying the main parts of the digestive system and explaining how digestion helps the body get energy and nutrients from food.
Read each problem carefully. Write complete answers and use the word bank or hints when they are provided.
How your body breaks down food and uses nutrients
Health - Grade 4-5
- 1
List the main path food follows through the digestive system, starting at the mouth and ending when waste leaves the body.
- 2
What job do your teeth and tongue do at the beginning of digestion?
- 3
Explain why saliva is important for digestion.
- 4
The esophagus is a tube between the mouth and the stomach. What is its main job?
- 5
What happens to food in the stomach?
- 6
Circle the correct organ: Most nutrients from digested food are absorbed in the stomach, small intestine, or esophagus. Explain your choice.
- 7
The small intestine has tiny finger-like parts called villi. How do villi help the body?
- 8
What is the main job of the large intestine?
- 9
Choose the best word to complete the sentence: Fiber helps move food through the digestive system and can help prevent _____.
- 10
Name two foods that are good sources of fiber.
- 11
Why is drinking water helpful for digestion?
- 12
A student eats lunch very quickly without chewing much. Explain one way this could affect digestion.
- 13
What does it mean for food to be digested?
- 14
Match each part to its job: mouth, stomach, small intestine, large intestine. Jobs: absorbs nutrients, absorbs water, chews and mixes food with saliva, churns food with digestive juices.
- 15
Write one healthy habit that can help your digestive system, and explain why it helps.