Grade 5 Digestion & Breathing worksheet
from Gradelings · Name: ______________________
How to explain it
- Food goes mouth → esophagus → stomach → small intestine → large intestine.
- The stomach churns food with acid. Nutrients pass into the blood in the small intestine. The large intestine absorbs water.
- Air goes nose or mouth → trachea → bronchi → lungs.
- In the lungs, oxygen goes into the blood and carbon dioxide comes out.
Example: Where do nutrients from food pass into the blood? The stomach breaks food down, but doesn't absorb most of it. The long small intestine is where nutrients enter the blood. Answer: the small intestine
Question 1
Put the parts of the digestive system in the order food travels through them.
- 👄Mouth: teeth chew and saliva mixes in
- 🌀Stomach: acid and juices churn the food
- 💧Large intestine: water is absorbed
- ⬇️Esophagus: muscles squeeze food down
- 🩸Small intestine: nutrients pass into the blood
Mouth: teeth chew and saliva mixes in → Esophagus: muscles squeeze food down → Stomach: acid and juices churn the food → Small intestine: nutrients pass into the blood → Large intestine: water is absorbed
Hint: Food is chewed in the mouth, squeezed down the esophagus, churned in the stomach, then moves through the small intestine and finally the large intestine.
Question 2
Digestive system or respiratory system? Tap an item, then tap its basket.
Sort into: 🍽️ digestive · 🫁 respiratory
- 🍞small intestine absorbs nutrients
- ⬇️esophagus pushes food down
- 🦷teeth grind food
- 💨trachea carries air to the lungs
- 👃nose warms and filters air
- 🔄alveoli swap oxygen and carbon dioxide
🍽️ digestive: small intestine absorbs nutrients, esophagus pushes food down, teeth grind food · 🫁 respiratory: trachea carries air to the lungs, nose warms and filters air, alveoli swap oxygen and carbon dioxide
Hint: The digestive system breaks down food. The respiratory system brings in oxygen and gets rid of carbon dioxide.
Question 3
What is the diaphragm, and what does it do?
- a dome-shaped muscle under the lungs that helps you breathe
- an organ that makes digestive juices
- a tube that carries food to the stomach
- a flap that covers the windpipe when you swallow
a dome-shaped muscle under the lungs that helps you breathe
Hint: When the diaphragm tightens and moves down, the chest gets bigger and air rushes into the lungs.
Question 4
Tiny hairs and sticky mucus in your nose help by…
👃- making the air colder
- breaking down food
- pumping oxygen into the heart
- trapping dust and germs before they reach the lungs
trapping dust and germs before they reach the lungs
Hint: Your nose cleans, warms and moistens air before it travels to your lungs.
Question 5
When you swallow, what stops food from going down your windpipe?
- the epiglottis, a flap that covers the windpipe
- the stomach
- the diaphragm
- the alveoli
the epiglottis, a flap that covers the windpipe
Hint: The epiglottis is a small flap at the top of the windpipe. It closes when you swallow, so food goes down the esophagus.
Question 6
How many more breaths per minute did Zoe take after running than while sitting still?
Zoe's breathing rate Activity Breaths per minute Sitting still 18 After walking 26 After running 40 answer boxbreaths
22 breaths
Hint: Subtract the smaller number from the bigger one: 40 − 18 = 22.
Question 7
Which organ absorbs most of the nutrients from food into the blood?
- the large intestine
- the esophagus
- the stomach
- the small intestine
the small intestine
Hint: The small intestine is long and lined with tiny finger-like bumps that pass nutrients into the blood.
Question 8
What happens in the lungs?
🫁- carbon dioxide moves into the blood and oxygen moves out
- bones are made stronger
- food is broken down by acid
- oxygen moves into the blood and carbon dioxide moves out
oxygen moves into the blood and carbon dioxide moves out
Hint: The lungs are where your blood trades gases: it picks up oxygen and drops off carbon dioxide.
Question 9
Which waste gas do you breathe out?
💨- oxygen
- hydrogen
- carbon dioxide
- helium
carbon dioxide
Hint: Your cells make carbon dioxide as waste. The blood carries it to the lungs, and you breathe it out.
Question 10
Jay counted breaths after each activity. When was Jay breathing fastest?
Jay's breathing rate Activity Breaths per minute Sitting still 17 After walking 25 After running 40 - after running
- while sitting still
- after walking
after running
Hint: Find the biggest number in the table. Hard exercise makes muscles need more oxygen, so you breathe faster.
Answer key
- 1. Mouth: teeth chew and saliva mixes in → Esophagus: muscles squeeze food down → Stomach: acid and juices churn the food → Small intestine: nutrients pass into the blood → Large intestine: water is absorbed
- 2. 🍽️ digestive: small intestine absorbs nutrients, esophagus pushes food down, teeth grind food · 🫁 respiratory: trachea carries air to the lungs, nose warms and filters air, alveoli swap oxygen and carbon dioxide
- 3. a dome-shaped muscle under the lungs that helps you breathe
- 4. trapping dust and germs before they reach the lungs
- 5. the epiglottis, a flap that covers the windpipe
- 6. 22 breaths
- 7. the small intestine
- 8. oxygen moves into the blood and carbon dioxide moves out
- 9. carbon dioxide
- 10. after running
Want more than 10 questions?
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