“Hey kids! It’s Mr. Pumpkin, and today I’m going to be chaperoning your field trip to the digestive system! Everybody get in the bubble, and we'll see how food is processed and used in the human body!¨

AHH!!!

All of the little vegetable children waved goodbye to their parents and got in the magic protective bubble. Mr. Pumpkin told them all to sit still as the bubble flew away into an open red cave. “Children! This is the mouth! This is where food is taken in. We are sitting on the tongue. The tongue is very important for chewing and swallowing food. Those big white bones are the teeth! The teeth are used to tear and crush food.”

“AHHHHHH!” screamed Eggplant, “I don’t want to be eaten.”

“You won’t be eaten,” laughed Mr. Pumpkin. “They know we’re on a field trip!”

Suddenly, the outside of the bubble became wet and slimy. “This liquid is called saliva! It comes from the salivary glands. The saliva is used to keep the mouth and other parts of the digestive system moist.”

“Woooooaaaaaahhhhhh!!! What’s that?” asked Corn.

“That is the uvula. It closes the nasopharynx so that food doesn’t go up the nasal cavity,” replied Mr. Pumpkin. “Close to the uvula is the epiglottis. The epiglottis closes the windpipe so that food doesn’t get into the lungs.”

WOAHH!!

“Next we will go down the throat!” The magic bubble took them down the esophagus. “This, kids, is where the food, liquid, and saliva goes from the mouth to the stomach. This will take about 7 seconds, so enjoy the ride.”

“WEEEEEEEEE!!” yelled the children.