The Digestive System Interactive Simulation

The digestive system converts food into nutrients the body can use. Starting in the mouth and ending at the rectum, food passes through six main organs. Each organ has a specialised role: mechanical breakdown (mouth), transport (oesophagus), chemical breakdown (stomach), nutrient absorption (small intestine), water recovery (large intestine), and waste elimination (rectum). Students can change organ and compare what happens. Use it for biology inquiry with Grades 3–5 and Middle School on a projector or student device.

Standards: NGSS MS-LS1-7

• Why digestion starts in the mouth with both chewing and saliva
• How the oesophagus uses peristalsis (wave-like muscle contractions) to move food
• Why the stomach produces acid and what would happen without it
• How the small intestine's enormous surface area maximises nutrient absorption
• What the large intestine does with water, and the role of gut bacteria

1. 1Predict how changing organ will affect the visible outcome, then test the prediction.
2. 2Use evidence from the interactive visual to explain the result.

Questions teachers ask