Lab 16 The Digestive System BIO202L
Student Name: Eric Muluh Penn
Access Code (located on the lid of your lab kit): AC-6ZGMCH
Lab Report Format Expectations
Utilize college level grammar and professional formatting when completing this worksheet.
Submissions without proper formatting, all required photos or sufficient responses will be rejected. Pre-
lab Questions
1. Explain the digestion that occurs in the oral cavity.
The first step in digestion, mechanical and chemical, begins in the mouth through chewing and
salivation. The teeth gnaw on food, while the salivary gland secretes saliva, which lubricates and
moistens the food in the mouth, including the enzyme amylase, which chemically breaks down
carbohydrates. The bolus that results is more easily absorbed and passed through the digestive
system. The tongue initiates the swallowing reflex and helps to push the bolus to the back of the
oral cavity.
2. What is the function of the liver in digestion?
The liver produces bile, responsible for fat digestion and absorption, detoxifies substances, and
deals with nutrients absorbed from food.
3. What role does the gall bladder play in digestion?
The gallbladder stores, concentrates, and releases bile into the small intestine to facilitate the
digestion and absorption of dietary lipids during the digestive process
4. Why is the orientation of muscle of the stomach wall important? How does this contribute to its
function?
The direction of the wall muscles is so important regarding the ability to do the job of the
stomach. It is the direction of its muscles which allows the stomach to mechanically digest food
because of a ring-like smooth muscle called the pyloric sphincter regulating the passage of
partially digested food into the small intestine. Nutrient digestion and absorption both depend
upon this.
EXPERIMENT 1: MICROSCOPIC ANATOMY OF THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
Introduction Questions
1. Label the items in the following slide pictures.
A. lamina propria
, Lab 16 The Digestive System BIO202L
B. epithelia
C. submucosa
D. intestinal crypts
E. submucosa
Student Name: Eric Muluh Penn
Access Code (located on the lid of your lab kit): AC-6ZGMCH
Lab Report Format Expectations
Utilize college level grammar and professional formatting when completing this worksheet.
Submissions without proper formatting, all required photos or sufficient responses will be rejected. Pre-
lab Questions
1. Explain the digestion that occurs in the oral cavity.
The first step in digestion, mechanical and chemical, begins in the mouth through chewing and
salivation. The teeth gnaw on food, while the salivary gland secretes saliva, which lubricates and
moistens the food in the mouth, including the enzyme amylase, which chemically breaks down
carbohydrates. The bolus that results is more easily absorbed and passed through the digestive
system. The tongue initiates the swallowing reflex and helps to push the bolus to the back of the
oral cavity.
2. What is the function of the liver in digestion?
The liver produces bile, responsible for fat digestion and absorption, detoxifies substances, and
deals with nutrients absorbed from food.
3. What role does the gall bladder play in digestion?
The gallbladder stores, concentrates, and releases bile into the small intestine to facilitate the
digestion and absorption of dietary lipids during the digestive process
4. Why is the orientation of muscle of the stomach wall important? How does this contribute to its
function?
The direction of the wall muscles is so important regarding the ability to do the job of the
stomach. It is the direction of its muscles which allows the stomach to mechanically digest food
because of a ring-like smooth muscle called the pyloric sphincter regulating the passage of
partially digested food into the small intestine. Nutrient digestion and absorption both depend
upon this.
EXPERIMENT 1: MICROSCOPIC ANATOMY OF THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
Introduction Questions
1. Label the items in the following slide pictures.
A. lamina propria
, Lab 16 The Digestive System BIO202L
B. epithelia
C. submucosa
D. intestinal crypts
E. submucosa
