How Our Muscles Get Nutrients

Reflection Questions:

1. How did the gelatin in Cup 1 change?  Did its ability to pass through the filter change?
2. Did the enzyme powder cause the change in Cup 1?  What evidence do you have to support your answer?
   
3. What was the one difference between Cups 1 and 2?  Was there a change to the gelatin in cup 2?
   
4. Which material from our lab was a metaphor for the bloodstream?  In which cup did the gelatin’s nutrients reach the “bloodstream”?
5. Based on your experimental findings, why do you think it’s important for the food you eat to be digested?
6. How is food digested in the digestion system?  What type of digestion did the model demonstrate?
   
7. What do you think would happen if you ate lots of food but couldn’t digest it? Would you still be hungry? Would you have lots of energy? Would you perform well in a sports competition?  Explain!

Answers:
1. The gelatin got a lot more liquified and also changed color. The meat tenderizer made it become super watery and also changed the color from red to orange. It started to go through the filter more and into the bottom of the cup. 
2. The powder did change the gelatin. I know it did because the gelatin in Cup 2 did not change, but the gelatin in the cup with the enzyme powder changed.
3. In Cup 1, the gelatin became much more liquified than before. There was not a change to the gelatin in Cup 2. It stayed the same as before.
4. The coffee filter represented the bloodstream. When the enzyme powder was added, the coffee filter absorbed the nutrients and deposited them into the cup, or the body. They reached the bloodstream in Cup 1.
5. I think it is important because without digestion, our body wouldn't be able to get nutrients. Our body would not work right because it wouldn't get any nutrients to keep it healthy.
6. Food is digested through mechanical and chemical digestion. The model demonstrated chemical digestion, because the powder broke down the gelatin without any mechanical movements.
7. I think that you would feel sick. I think you would be hungry because the food you ate wouldn't give the nutrients your body needs because they hadn't been digested. You would not have lots of energy because your body only gets nutrients when food is digested. I don't think you would do well in a sports competition because you wouldn't have enough energy from the food.