Mouth
Teeth break food into smaller pieces. Saliva begins to break it down chemically.
Stomach
Food slides down the oesophagus into the stomach, where strong acid and muscles churn it into a mush.
Small intestine
Nutrients are absorbed into the blood here — your small intestine is about 6 metres long, all coiled up!
Large intestine
Water is absorbed, and waste forms into poo, ready to leave the body.
🔑 Key Terms
- Digestion
- Breaking food down so your body can use it.
- Oesophagus
- The food pipe between your mouth and stomach.
- Nutrient
- A useful part of food (like vitamins or protein).
Did you know?
Your small intestine has so much folded surface area that if you flattened it out, it would cover a tennis court!
Try it at home: Chew test
- Take a bite of bread and chew it for 1 minute (don't swallow).
- Notice the taste change — it gets sweeter!
- That's saliva starting to digest the starch into sugar.