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Digestive System | Definitions
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Digestive System | Definitions
Digestive System
The physical and chemical breakdown of food into smaller particles so that they can pass into the bloodstream.
Mechanical Digestion
The physical breakdown of food into smaller particles using teeth and muscular action like the churning of the stomach.
Chemical Digestion
The breakdown of food into smaller particles using enzymes.
Diffusion
The movement of gas and liquid molecules from an area of higher concentration to an area of lower concentration.
Osmosis
A special form of diffusion involving water molecules moving across a semipermeable membrane from an area of higher water concentration to an area of lower water concentration.
Active Transport
The movement of molecules against a concentration gradient from an area of lower concentration to an area of higher concentration. This costs energy in the form of ATP.
Peristalsis
The rhythmic contraction and relaxation of the involuntary muscles in the digestive system. Its role is to move food along the alimentary canal.
Ingestion
The process of taking food into the alimentary canal through the mouth.
Absorption
The process of the end products of digestion passing into the bloodstream through diffusion or active transport in the small intestine.
Egestion
The removal of undigested waste (faeces) at the anus.
Nutrition
The way an organism obtains and uses its food.
Villi
Finger-like projections located in the small intestine that contain lacteals (lymph capillaries) that absorb fatty acids and glycerol and blood capillaries to absorb nutrients.
Autotrophic Nutrition
When an organism can make its own food.
Heterotrophic Nutrition
When an organism cannot make its own food and instead gets its nutrition from an organism in a different level of the food chain.
Herbivore
An organism that only eats plants, e.g. a rabbit.
Omnivore
An organism that eats both plants and other animals, e.g. a human.
Carnivore
An organism that only eats other animals, e.g. ladybirds.
Decomposer
An organism that feeds on dead/decaying organisms, e.g. fungi.
Parasite
An organism that feeds on a live host, e.g. fleas on a dog.
Bile
A yellow-green liquid made mostly from water but also containing bile-pigments, bile salts and cholesterol. Bile neutralises chyme and emulsifies lipids.
Chyme
Mechanically digested food mixed with HCl of the stomach.
Symbiosis
Where two organisms of two different species live in close association and at least one benefits.
Mutualism
A type of symbiotic relationship where two organisms of two different species live in close association and both organisms benefit.
Portal System
A blood pathway that starts and ends with capillaries.
Balanced Human Diet
Eating the correct amounts of all the six essential nutrients in the diet.
Food Pyramid
Shows the relative amount of each food type we should eat.
Cut dotted horizontal lines. Fold vertical line.
Digestive System
The physical and chemical breakdown of food into smaller particles so that they can pass into the bloodstream.
Mechanical Digestion
The physical breakdown of food into smaller particles using teeth and muscular action like the churning of the stomach.
Chemical Digestion
The breakdown of food into smaller particles using enzymes.
Diffusion
The movement of gas and liquid molecules from an area of higher concentration to an area of lower concentration.
Osmosis
A special form of diffusion involving water molecules moving across a semipermeable membrane from an area of higher water concentration to an area of lower water concentration.
Active Transport
The movement of molecules against a concentration gradient from an area of lower concentration to an area of higher concentration. This costs energy in the form of ATP.
Peristalsis
The rhythmic contraction and relaxation of the involuntary muscles in the digestive system. Its role is to move food along the alimentary canal.
Ingestion
The process of taking food into the alimentary canal through the mouth.
Absorption
The process of the end products of digestion passing into the bloodstream through diffusion or active transport in the small intestine.
Egestion
The removal of undigested waste (faeces) at the anus.
Nutrition
The way an organism obtains and uses its food.
Villi
Finger-like projections located in the small intestine that contain lacteals (lymph capillaries) that absorb fatty acids and glycerol and blood capillaries to absorb nutrients.
Autotrophic Nutrition
When an organism can make its own food.
Heterotrophic Nutrition
When an organism cannot make its own food and instead gets its nutrition from an organism in a different level of the food chain.
Herbivore
An organism that only eats plants, e.g. a rabbit.
Omnivore
An organism that eats both plants and other animals, e.g. a human.
Carnivore
An organism that only eats other animals, e.g. ladybirds.
Decomposer
An organism that feeds on dead/decaying organisms, e.g. fungi.
Parasite
An organism that feeds on a live host, e.g. fleas on a dog.
Bile
A yellow-green liquid made mostly from water but also containing bile-pigments, bile salts and cholesterol. Bile neutralises chyme and emulsifies lipids.
Chyme
Mechanically digested food mixed with HCl of the stomach.
Symbiosis
Where two organisms of two different species live in close association and at least one benefits.
Mutualism
A type of symbiotic relationship where two organisms of two different species live in close association and both organisms benefit.
Portal System
A blood pathway that starts and ends with capillaries.
Balanced Human Diet
Eating the correct amounts of all the six essential nutrients in the diet.
Food Pyramid
Shows the relative amount of each food type we should eat.