The digestive systemIB MYP Sciences: Mind map

Exam questions on The digestive system

1. A boy in Istanbul eats a lunch of bread, cheese and olives. Over the next few hours the food travels through his alimentary canal, and digestive juices are added to it by several organs.
   Explain the functions of bile in digestion.2 marks
2. A student in Singapore swallows a mouthful of bread. In the mouth the bread is chewed and mixed with saliva, and it is then swallowed as a soft ball of food.
   Explain why chewing food helps chemical digestion.2 marks
3. The small intestine is about 6 m long and its inner lining is covered with millions of tiny finger-like projections called villi. A patient with coeliac disease has villi that have become flattened, and she absorbs much less digested food into her blood than a healthy person.
   Explain how villi are adapted to absorb digested food efficiently.3 marks