ScienceOrganisms & Life ProcessesAges 8–11

The Digestive System

Describe the simple functions of the basic parts of the human digestive system: mouth, oesophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine

Lesson

Set out your lesson

Trace food through the digestive tract and distinguish breakdown from absorption.

Before teaching

Activity

Can discuss the supplied example in an accessible mode; adapt directions without supplying the target answer.

Policy

Check the learner can follow the model with support before moving on. Source prerequisite ordering is not learner mastery; return to prerequisite work when needed.

Printer, credit, and teaching notes

Use the simplified supplied diagram; it is not to scale and omits accessory organs. No food experiment or personal digestion discussion. Open S first, G together, then T alone; put S and G away before T. Keys stay adult-only. No purchase or printing is required; an unavailable physical observation remains pending, not passed.

Materials are ready in each step. Use them on screen or print just the current step. Put teaching examples aside before the learner tries.

Next: Show

Adult extras

What this lesson covers and its limits

These are bounded opportunities, not learner attainment. Partial and blocked source requirements remain so.

partial: Describe the simple functions of the basic parts of the human digestive system: mouth, oesophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine
Schematic labelling and recall only; accessory organs and detailed digestion chemistry are outside the sample.
partial: Name the main organs in order: mouth, oesophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine
Schematic labelling and recall only; accessory organs and detailed digestion chemistry are outside the sample.
partial: Describe the function of each (mouth chews, stomach breaks down, small intestine absorbs nutrients)
Schematic labelling and recall only; accessory organs and detailed digestion chemistry are outside the sample.
partial: Draw or label a simple diagram of the digestive system
Schematic labelling and recall only; accessory organs and detailed digestion chemistry are outside the sample.
partial: Can {{name}} trace the journey of a sandwich through the body — from chewing in the mouth all the way to the intestines?
Schematic labelling and recall only; accessory organs and detailed digestion chemistry are outside the sample.

Schematic labelling and recall only; accessory organs and detailed digestion chemistry are outside the sample.

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Trace food through the digestive tract and distinguish breakdown from absorption.

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Learning resources

Extra practice links — they do not replace Gakuva’s teaching approach.

NASA Climate Kids · Practice link — not the full lesson

Plants and Animals

Open practice(new tab)

Before you open · source notes

Plants and Animals supports The Digestive System. An adult previews and guides; this is a learning page, not a scored quiz.

Free educational page, no sign-in required for the tested path.

Before you open

Ask the learner one fact they learned and one question they still have.

Opening this link does not save learning or assess mastery.

Source, access and review notes

Public NASA Climate Kids page. An anonymous GET on 2026-11-12 returned HTTP 200 with no login or payment prompt for this URL. Opening the link does not save practice or assess mastery. An adult should preview and guide the learner.

NASA Climate Kids. “Plants and Animals.” External page; Gakuva does not copy, host, embed, or redistribute materials.

Unknown — link only

Check understanding

Name the main organs in order: mouth, oesophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine
Describe the function of each (mouth chews, stomach breaks down, small intestine absorbs nutrients)
Draw or label a simple diagram of the digestive system

“Can your child trace the journey of a sandwich through the body — from chewing in the mouth all the way to the intestines?”

Curriculum record

Type: Conceptual
Subject: Science
Domain: Organisms & Life Processes
Age range: Ages 8–11

Standards

the-ontario-curriculum-science-and-technology-20:ON-SCI-2022-G5-B2.1the-ontario-curriculum-science-and-technology-20:ON-SCI-2022-G5-B2.2uk-nc-2013:Y4.Sci.A.1

Curriculum