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9th grade Digestion and how nutrients reach the blood worksheet

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Digestion and how nutrients reach the blood

Grade 9 Science Worksheet

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Circle the best answer.

  1. Ari eats a slice of bread. Salivary amylase starts breaking the starch in the mouth. What happens to that amylase in the stomach?

    • Acid stops it, so starch digestion resumes in the small intestine
    • It is used up in the mouth, so no amylase is left
    • It switches to digesting protein, since one enzyme works on any food
    • It keeps working at the same rate, since acid does not matter to enzymes
  2. Bo eats a bowl of beans. In what order do enzymes digest the protein in them?

    • Pepsin in the stomach, then trypsin from the pancreas in the small intestine
    • Pepsin in the stomach and again in the small intestine, since one enzyme finishes the job
    • Trypsin in the stomach, then pepsin from the pancreas in the small intestine
    • Lipase in the mouth, then amylase in the stomach
  3. Read this first

    Map (model, not to scale)

    Glucose from rice starts in the small intestine and ends in a muscle cell. The route between the two boxes is marked ?.

  4. Jun eats a bowl of rice. Glucose from its starch is absorbed. Which route takes the glucose out of the small intestine?

    • Into a villus capillary, then the hepatic portal vein to the liver
    • Through the large intestine wall into the blood, then to the liver and the body
    • Into a lacteal, then the lymph vessels that carry it on to the blood
    • Through the stomach wall into the blood, then to the liver and the body
  5. Map (model, not to scale)

    Fatty acids and monoglycerides from nut oil start in the small intestine and end in the bloodstream. The route between the two boxes is marked ?.

  6. Kira eats a handful of nuts. Long-chain fatty acids and monoglycerides from the oil are absorbed. Which route do they take?

    • Through the stomach wall into the blood, then to the liver
    • Through the large intestine wall into the blood, then to the liver
    • Into a lacteal, then lymph vessels, then the bloodstream
    • Into a villus capillary, then the hepatic portal vein to the liver
  7. Luz traces the sugars from a banana. Which organ goes in the box marked ?

    • The large intestine, where most sugars are absorbed into the blood
    • The gallbladder, which stores the sugars until they are needed
    • The stomach, where most sugars are absorbed into the blood
    • The liver, which receives blood from the small intestine
  8. Noah reads a model of a folded lining. How does folding change the area of the strip?

    • Each fold adds 40 cm², so 10 folds give 440 cm², eleven times the flat strip
    • Folding keeps the area at 40 cm², since the folded strip is the same paper as before
    • Each fold adds 8 cm², so 10 folds give 120 cm², three times the flat strip
    • Each fold adds 4 cm², so 10 folds give 80 cm², twice the area of the flat strip
  9. “A micrometer (µm) is one thousandth of a millimeter (mm)” Pia reads the lining card. Which statement matches it?

    • Villi are smaller than microvilli, and there are more of them per mm²
    • There are more villi than microvilli per mm², since villi are bigger
    • Villi and microvilli are about the same size and number
    • Microvilli are far smaller than villi, but far more numerous per mm²
  10. Ren asks why the small intestine lining has villi and microvilli. What do they do for absorption?

    • They add surface area, so more nutrients touch absorbing cells
    • They squeeze water out of the food, so the waste is much drier
    • They make bile, which then carries the nutrients into the blood
    • They grind food into smaller pieces, so the enzymes work much faster
  11. Tala eats cheese. Bile helps lipase digest its fat. Why does lipase work faster with bile?

    • Bile breaks large fat globules into droplets, so lipase reaches more fat
    • Bile is an enzyme that itself splits the fat into fatty acids and glycerol
    • Bile neutralizes the stomach acid, so that lipase can finally reach the fat
    • Chewing already broke the fat into tiny droplets, so bile adds little
  12. By the time leftovers reach the large intestine, nearly all nutrients are already absorbed. Zee asks what it mostly absorbs.

    • Starch, which it digests with amylase
    • Water and salts, taken from the leftover material
    • Fat droplets, which it digests with bile
    • Most of the sugars and amino acids, through its villi
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9th grade Digestion and how nutrients reach the blood worksheet – printable
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About this worksheet

Digestion: how food reaches the blood. Every version has 10 questions, and the answer key prints on the second page.

What your child will learn

  • I can put the main organs of the digestive tract in order (mouth, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine) and say that the liver, gallbladder and pancreas are helpers: food does not pass through them, but bile (made by the liver, kept in the gallbladder) and enzymes (from the pancreas) are sent to the small intestine.
  • I can tell mechanical digestion (chewing and churning make smaller pieces without changing the molecules) from chemical digestion (enzymes break large molecules into small ones).
  • I can match an enzyme to the nutrient it breaks down: amylase to starch (salivary amylase in the mouth, pancreatic amylase in the small intestine), pepsin and trypsin to protein, lipase to fat, lactase to the milk sugar lactose; and say that bile is not an enzyme but breaks large fat globules into droplets so lipase reaches more fat.
  • I can say that an enzyme comes out of the reaction unchanged and can work again, and that each enzyme works on its own kind of molecule.
  • I can say that stomach acid stops salivary amylase, and that pancreatic juice raises the pH again in the small intestine.
  • I can say why the small intestine absorbs most nutrients (folds, villi and microvilli give it a huge surface area) and read a model of a folded strip.

Standard: HS-LS1-2

Words to know

digestion: Breaking food into pieces small enough to absorb, by mechanical and chemical means

mechanical digestion: Chewing and churning that make food pieces smaller without changing the molecules

chemical digestion: Enzymes breaking large food molecules into small ones

enzyme: A protein that speeds up a reaction and comes out unchanged

amylase: The enzyme that breaks starch into sugars, made in saliva and by the pancreas

pepsin: The stomach enzyme that starts breaking protein into smaller peptides

lipase: The enzyme that breaks fat into fatty acids and monoglycerides

bile: A fluid made in the liver that breaks large fat globules into small droplets

Common mistakes

Your child thought the stomach absorbs most of a meal's nutrients. The stomach mixes food and starts protein digestion, but the small intestine, with its villi, absorbs most nutrients. Ask your child which organ has villi.

Your child thought digestion is just chewing, or just breaking food into pieces. Chewing and churning are mechanical, and enzymes then break food into small molecules chemically. Ask your child what an enzyme does to the starch in bread.

Your child thought an enzyme is used up when it breaks down food. An enzyme comes out of the reaction unchanged and can work again, so it is the food that runs low. Ask your child what is left of the amylase after it splits starch.

Questions parents ask

What is the most common mistake with digestion and how nutrients reach the blood?

Your child thought the stomach absorbs most of a meal's nutrients. The stomach mixes food and starts protein digestion, but the small intestine, with its villi, absorbs most nutrients. Ask your child which organ has villi.

Are these 9th grade science worksheets free to print?

Yes. All 6 printable versions at each level are free to print, with the answer key, and no account is needed.

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