3990 Learning at home workbook 6 ebook

The digestive system – 1
Text
Read the play script.
A digestive chain reaction is set off when a banana is raised to a person’s mouth.
Nose:
Brain:
A bite is taken from the banana.
Hey, Brain, wake up! I can smell something!
(sleepily) Er, what? Oh, yeah! I’m on to it. Hey, Mouth Nerves!
Get moving! We need spit, and lots of it!
Salivary glands: (excitedly) Oh this is such fun! Spit! Spit! Spit! Get that
enzyme working! Yes, another successful mutation;
Banana is now Bolus! (cheers)
Bolus is swallowed.
Pharynx: Now Bolus, when you get to the fork in the road, be sure to
take Oesophagus Street. Trachea Avenue will take you to
the lungs and the mastership will start to cough and splutter;
though by rights, Epiglottis should have it covered.
Bolus is passed into the oesophagus ...
Oesophagus: Welcome Bolus! Enjoy the swift-action peristaltic roller-coaster ride!
... and on to the stomach.
Stomach: Glands, get ready with those enzymes and acid, but please, coat my lining with mucous
first; I don’t want any peptic ulcers. This is the end for you, Bolus. I’m turning on the mixer
... there, a nice sloppy goo, and a new identity. Every organ, please welcome … Chyme!
(applause) Ready down there, Duo? I’m about to squirt.
Chyme is squirted into the duodenum, the first part of the small intestine.
Duodenum: (theatrically) And now, with a little help from enzymes produced by my dear friend,
Pancreas (drum roll); and bile, produced by Liver and stored by his partner, Gall Bladder
(more drum rolling), we shall contribute further to dear old Chyme’s breakdown. And when
we’re done, we’ll move him along.
Chyme is moved to the next part of the small intestine, the jejunum.
Jejunum: Come on, Ileum, let’s squeeze this chyme like a sponge; watch those nutrients and water
flow!
Ileum: OK, pass some over. Have you got all your villi and microvilli working on it? We don’t want
any slackers! Let Blood see the super-nutritious juice we produce!
Nutrients are passed into the bloodstream.
Blood: Thanks, guys. I can see this is really top-quality merchandise. High five! This mastership
wants premium fuel so it always uses five-star ingredients.
Ileum: Well, that was ‘Goodbye’ to the good stuff and all we have left here is the dried-out waste.
My job is done so one good push and it’s on to the large intestine.
The waste is pushed into the caecum, the first part of the large intestine.
Caecum: Thanks, Ileum, I guess it can just sit here for a bit, then I’ll pass it on to the big fellow.
Colon: I heard that! Come on then, pass it down. You’re obviously not going to do anything with it.
The waste is pushed into the first section of the colon.
Colon: Oh dear, I’m having a little trouble. The bacteria in my ascending and transverse sections
are on a bit of a ‘go-slow’. They’re not producing enough mucous to help the waste on its
way. The mastership is not taking enough fluid on board. The waste may have to stay here
for a day or two ...
Time passes.
Colon: (suddenly waking up) Oh, I can feel a movement! Looks like my descending section is full
and all the pressure’s on Rectum.
Rectum: (panicking) Anus! Are you awake? Can you hear me? Time to open up ...
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My learning log When I read this play script, I could read: all of it. most of it. parts of it.
R.I.C. Publications® www.ricpublications.com.au 91 ISBN 978-1-922313-88-1 Learning at home workbook 6