6.1: Digestion and absorption

Exercise 1: Study the quizlet deck via "learn" to gain fluency with the vocabulary of this section

Prior learning and retrieval practice

S1: Production of an annotated diagram of the digestive system.

Exercise 4: Study this quizlet diagram of the digestive system using "learn".

U1: The contraction of circular and longitudinal muscle of the small intestine mixes the food with enzymes and moves it along the gut.

S2: Identification of tissue layers in transverse sections of the small intestine viewed with a microscope or in a micrograph. Guidance: Tissue layers should include longitudinal and circular muscles, mucosa and epithelium.

Exercise 5: Study this quizlet diagram of the structure of the tissue layers in the digestive system.

U2: The pancreas secretes enzymes into the lumen of the small intestine.

U3: Enzymes digest most macromolecules in food into monomers in the small intestine.

Guidance: 

• Students should know that amylase, lipase and an endopeptidase are secreted by the pancreas. The name trypsin and the method used to activate it are not required.

• Students should know that starch, glycogen, lipids and nucleic acids are digested into monomers and that cellulose remains undigested.

Exercise 6: Make a table with the following column headings "Enzyme" "Secreted from" "Substrate" and "Product". Find the relevant information for the following enzymes:

• Amylase

• Maltase

• Lipase

• Endopeptidase

U4: Villi increase the surface area of epithelium over which absorption is carried out.

U5: Villi absorb monomers formed by digestion as well as mineral ions and vitamins.

U6: Different methods of membrane transport are required to absorb different nutrients.

Exercise 7: Complete this Quizlet deck to familiarise yourself with the structure of a villus

A2: Use of dialysis tubing to model absorption of digested food in the intestine.

NoS: Use models as representations of the real world—dialysis tubing can be used to model absorption in the intestine. (1.10)