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That's One Large Intestine
The large
intestine is fatter than the small intestine (3 inches to 4 inches
around), and it's almost the last stop on the digestive tract. Like the
small intestine, it is packed into the body, and if it were stretched out
would be about 5 feet long. The large intestine has a tiny tube
with a closed end coming off it called the appendix (say:
uh-pen-dix). Although the appendix is part of the digestive tract,
it doesn't do anything at all. Scientists think that the appendix may have
been a useful part of the digestive tract millions of years ago.
After almost all of the nutrients have been absorbed from the liquid
food mix in the small intestine, there will still be some parts of the
pizza and orange that your body can't use. This leftover waste moves into
the large intestine to begin its long journey out of your body. On its
way, it goes into the colon (say: cole-in), the part of the
large intestine where most of the water (and some minerals) that are
left in the liquid mix are absorbed into the blood. As the water leaves
the mix, the waste that's left gets harder and harder as it keeps moving
along, until it becomes a solid.
When this solid waste reaches the end of the large intestine, it may
have been in your system for several days. The amount of time that the
waste spends in the large intestine depends on the kind of food that was
eaten and how a person's body works. The large intestine pushes the waste
into the rectum (say: reck-tum), the very last stop on the
digestive tract. The solid waste stays here until you are ready to go to
the bathroom. When you go to the bathroom, you are getting rid of this
solid waste by pushing it through the anus (say: ay-nuss).
Everything your body needs from the pizza and orange has been removed by
the different parts of the digestive system, and what's left is what comes
out of your body.
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