Do you know how poop is made? Our second grade class does! We recreated the digestive path food takes from the first step to the last. Students were able to experience each step!
First, the mouth and teeth, which rip up the food. We broke up banana and crackers in baggies with our hands.
Next, we added saliva (water) to begin the chemical digestion of the food.
Then it was time for the esophagus to do its part. We transferred the food from the “mouth” to the stomach.
A great deal of the digestive process takes place in the stomach. Our food is in the stomach longer that any other part of the digestive system. Using stomach acid (in our case, vinegar), we worked the food particles with our stomach muscles (hands) until it was soft enough to go through to the small intestines.
In the small intestines, we passed the nutrients (any liquids left) into our blood stream to be distributed throughout our body. While we watched the waste materials move into the large intestines (piece of pantyhose).
The large intestine absorbs all the excess water so there is only waste matter left. We used paper towels to absorb the liquid. It took quite a lot of effort.
Finally, the rectum! this is where and how waste is removed from our body. We squeezed it out of the rectum (using hands) into a dishpan (toilet). Yes, everyone does it!
