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FARGO, N.D. - “How long do you think your small intestine is?” my student dietetic interns asked the third- grade class we were visiting.
As we taught the class about digestion, we used rubber tubing to represent the length of a small intestine. One of the third-graders eagerly came to the front of the room to pull a length of rubber tubing out of a bag until we reached the length of the small intestine.
The class helped the student decide when to stop. The student stopped after he pulled out 5 feet of tubing, but we said the small intestine was longer. Soon the student was dragging the length of tubing around some desks and halfway across the classroom.
We were out of tubing. The average length of our small intestine is 20 to 25 feet.
The third-graders seemed impressed.
“How does all that fit inside us?” one of them asked.
My students explained that intestines are folded and we all have this long, narrow tube to allow us to absorb nutrients from food and beverages for use by our body.
After several activities, we could tell that the children had “digested” the lesson material quite well. They told us they would be teaching their parents about nutrition at home.
Are you smarter than a third-grader? Try these questions, which we asked the students after the digestion lesson. Some questions are harder than others.
1. What substance in our mouth helps mix and start the breakdown of food?
2. What action in the mouth helps break apart your food?
3. How many muscles are in the esophagus?
4. Two-part question: What part of the digestive system mixes up your food? After your food is mixed, what is the resulting mixture called?
5. How many liters of food and liquid can a stomach hold when full?
6. How long is your large intestine?
7. What five food groups make up MyPlate?
8. Which food groups are good sources of fiber?
How did you do? Here are the answers.
1. Saliva in our mouth begins the digestion process by lubricating food, which helps with chewing and swallowing. Saliva contains an enzyme (amylase) that begins the breakdown of starches into sugars. That is why a cracker tastes sweeter after we chew for a while.
2. Chewing breaks apart foods. Along with providing us a dazzling smile, strong teeth allow us to chew our food properly, which aids our ability to digest our food properly. Don't forget to brush and floss your teeth.
