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Human digestive system and alimentary canal

The alimentary canal is the long tube from mouth to anus through which food passes and gets digested, absorbed, and removed.

In one line: A food tube with many working stops.

Practice This Concept

Understand it

In humans, digestion starts in the mouth and continues through the stomach and small intestine. The canal has specialized parts that break food mechanically and chemically. Food moves forward by peristalsis, and each part has a clear role in processing the meal.

Example

Bread is chewed in the mouth, mixed with saliva, then passed to the stomach and small intestine.

Rule to remember

Rule: Food path in humans is mouth → oesophagus → stomach → small intestine → large intestine → anus.

See it worked out

Follow the example line by line, then use the same method on new questions.

Worked example

After eating rice, chewing starts in the mouth, the bolus moves by peristalsis through the oesophagus, protein digestion begins in the stomach, and most absorption happens in the small intestine.

Method you can reuse

1Start with the mouth.
2Trace the food path.
3Mention digestion at major parts.
4Add peristalsis.
5End with absorption and egestion.

Sketch it in your answer

Show the full canal with arrows for food movement and label the main parts clearly.

Check yourself

Answer the question in your head before opening the answer.

Try it yourself

Why is the alimentary canal called a tube?

Think first, then show answer

It is called a tube because food moves through a continuous passage from the mouth to the anus, and different parts of the canal work on it along the way.

Common wrong answer

Food is digested only in the stomach.

Why it loses marks: Digestion starts in the mouth and continues in the small intestine too.

Don't mix this up

Students often mix up the alimentary canal with digestive glands.

Exam tip

In diagrams, label the food path in order and mention peristalsis.

Write it in the exam

Each point is worth about one mark. Write point 1 for a 1-mark question and keep adding points as the marks go up.

How CBSE asks it

Draw the human digestive system, describe the path of food, or explain the function of one organ in the canal.

1
Enough for 1 mark
The alimentary canal is the long tube from mouth to anus through which food passes and gets digested, absorbed, and removed.
2
Add for 2 marks
Example: Bread is chewed in the mouth, mixed with saliva, then passed to the stomach and small intestine.
3
Add for 3 marks
In humans, digestion starts in the mouth and continues through the stomach and small intestine.

MCQ Quiz

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