Year 8 Science · Unit 1 · Lesson 11

Getting Materials In

Challenge Worksheet

Name

Date

Class

Learning Goals

Identify and correct scientific errors in a student's description of digestion and absorption.
Evaluate what living systems require in terms of both intake and processing of materials.
Construct an argument using the idea that intake without processing is insufficient for cell function.

Go Deeper

Find the mistake

A student wrote this answer

"The digestive system is not really necessary for living things because food contains nutrients and cells just absorb what they need directly from the food. When you eat a piece of bread, the glucose in it goes straight into your blood and is transported to your cells. Absorption happens in the stomach, where the food is stored until the blood is ready to collect it. The digestive system and the circulatory system are completely independent, they do not need to work together."

1. This paragraph contains four scientific errors. List each error you can find. (Hint: think about what digestion does, where absorption happens, the form nutrients must be in, and whether systems work independently.)

Challenge 4 marks

2. Rewrite the paragraph correctly. Every sentence that contains an error must be fixed.

Challenge 4 marks

Show What You Know

3. A young person in remote Australia eats a meal of kangaroo meat and bush tucker, both rich in nutrients. Explain, using the concepts of digestion and absorption, why eating this meal is only the first step in getting nutrients to body cells. What must happen before the cells can actually benefit?

Challenge 3 marks

4. A student claims: "The digestive system is an input system, it only brings things in, just like the respiratory system." Do you agree? Use specific examples from both systems to support your answer.

Challenge 2 marks

Wrap Up

In one sentence, what was the main idea of this lesson?