Question

How is food pushed through the gut for 1,3&5marks

Answer 1

Peristalsis

The food we eat consists of large lumps of material. We must bite off small pieces and chew them up into even smaller parts, before swallowing them. When the food gets into our stomach it is broken down further as it is squeezed and moved around by the stomach’s muscular walls

Food is moved through the digestive system by the contractions of two sets of muscles in the walls of the gut. One set runs along the gut, while the other set circles it. Their wave-like contractions create a squeezing action, moving down the gut. This series of wave-like contractions is called peristalsis.