Cluster W Science Period 2 - Digestive-Digestive

Organ	Structure	Function
Stomach	Pouch, round. Flexible, muscular. lining.	holds and churns food. Breaks down protein to amino acid. It also stores food.
Saliva (enzymes)	Wet, slimy, water-like.	Wets food, and they break down starch molecule to sugar molecule so that the food can go through the cell membrane.
Esophagus	tube-like long, flexible stretchy	When the smooth muscle fibers contract on the esophagus they squeeze food down to the stomach.
Sphincters	ring, muscular. Thin and firm.	Opens to let food in. Closes to resist food from going back up.
small intestine	coiled, tube-like. Flexible and stretchy. smooth.	It digests the rest of the food. It also absorbs all the nutrients to use with cells.
large intestine	smooth, flexible like tube.	The large intestine is a storage for waste/leftovers and it also absorbs water so that you are not dehydrated.
liver	pouch like and smooth. flexible.	Produces bile.
pancreas	yellow, long, smooth.	Releases pancreatic juice. The juice neutralizes stomach acid.
gallbladder	pouch and small.	Stores bile and releases bile when needed.
villi	fingerlike projections.	Provides more surface area which makes it possible for the small intestines to absorb better nutrients. Covered with capillaries to diffuse nutrients.
mucus lining	wet slimy.	Helps protect the stomach from the acid from eating away.
bile	water fluid like.	Helps break fat down into small droplets.