Week 37 of Nutrition Expedition: Can You Stomach This?

June 23-24, 2016

Can You Stomach This?

Nutrition Expedition was back this week with a tummy-friendly smoothie! The younger children (nursery-two's) had the opportunity to observe and assist me in creating this delicious, healthy treat!

I brought in a food processor, along with several ingredients that are good for digestion: lowfat yogurt, bananas, and red and green apples. We added everything to the processor and pureed it with a bit of milk and crushed ice until it was smooth and creamy. It was so tasty! 

Week 36 of Nutrition Expedition: Digestion Demonstrations

June 6-10, 2016

Digestion Demonstrations

There was a lot of "potty talk" going on around Joyful Noise this past week! We learned all about the steps of digestion, and what becomes of our food when our body uses up what it needs :)

I brought in my iPad so that we could explore that awesome app we've been using this year, Tinybop "Human Body". This is by far one of the greatest apps I've seen for kids. It's so interactive, educational, and just plain fun! We started out by feeding the character and watching the food travel down her esophagus and into her stomach, where we were able to zoom in and watch it digest. It then traveled into the small intestine, and we were able to see the healthy bacteria further digest the food. Then, it was on to the large intestine, where we watched it turn into waste matter (aka poop!). This was pretty fascinating (and hilarious, from a child's standpoint :D).

Now it was the children's turn to "digest" their own food! I gave them each a small bag with 2 saltine crackers inside. They had to carefully crush them up with their hands (this represented chewing). Once they were sufficiently crunched, we poured a small amount of 7UP (stomach acid) into the bag and zipped it up. The 7UP caused the crackers to break down even further, and get mushy. It really looked like digestion! 

Finally, I brought in a homemade digestion model to give them another example of what digestion looks like. I cut a leg off of a pair of nylon stockings and attached it to a funnel. The funnel represented the stomach, and the nylons represented the small and large intestine. I dropped a piece of play food into the "stomach" and allowed it to slide down into the "intestines" and, eventually, onto the floor!

Super Sleuth Questions

1. What is the juice in your stomach called that helps break down food? (answer:  acid)

2. How long does food stay in your stomach before entering the small intestine? (answer:  about 4 hours)

3. Where does the food go once it leaves your stomach? The small or large intestine? (answer:  the small intestine first, then the large intestine)