An interactive tour of the digestive system
and health effects of food in your body
Creativity and Inspiration
The average adult consumes over two thousand pounds of food in one year. What do our bodies
do with all that food? Is energy the only reason we need to eat? How do food choices affect our
health? The exhibit, You Ate It, Now What?, answers these questions. Visitors experience the
digestive system from the food’s point of view; learning how the mechanical and chemical
processes of digestion work together to break down food into molecules small enough for
transport across the small intestine to be utilized by the body for energy, growth and maintenance. Given the alarming increases
in obesity and diabetes in the United States, our team felt it was of vital importance to illustrate how foods we eat affect digestive
health.
The inspiration for our exhibit came in stages. It began when a team member, a diabetic, suggested the idea of an exhibit to
teach about diabetes and how good choices in diet are able to keep it under control. That idea soon grew to include how
digestion works and that good choices in diet are important for all aspects of health. Before we knew it, many of us were thinking
of Ms. Frizzle and The Magic School Bus; our BIG IDEA was born! How cool would it be to walk through the digestive system
learning what happens to food we eat from the food’s perspective?
Our exhibit is a series of rooms representing the digestive system. The journey of food through digestion starts with an open
mouth. Visitors walk onto the tongue, stimulating taste buds along the way. They spot tooth decay on giant teeth while learning
the importance of saliva in digestion. Entering the esophagus, visitors are introduced to peristalsis. As visitors cross through the
cardiac sphincter, they learn about reflux disease (GERD) and how food choices affect symptoms. In the stomach visitors
interact with hands-on activities. They learn about enzymes, stomach acid, expandability, muscle layers, chyme, and simple
molecules foods get broken down into. Next is the duodenum, beginning of the small intestine and final stage of digestion.
Visitors see how bile from the liver emulsifies fats. Chemicals from the pancreas mix with chyme to neutralize pH providing the
final addition of enzymes to breakdown any remaining carbohydrates, proteins, and nucleic acids. In the duodenum, visitors are
exposed to dietary restrictions needed when the gall bladder is removed. Visitors learn the role the pancreas plays in the
regulation of sugar in the body. Dietary choices that lead to a reduction in the risk of diabetes are presented as well. Next is the
small intestine. Visitors will walk through rubber villi learning about the different methods used to move nutrients for energy and
growth into the blood for transport. Waste is prepared for elimination in the large intestine. Water is absorbed into the blood
stream. Visitors flow with the blood into a healthy habits room, where they play games that teach about food choices for a
healthy lifestyle.
Eating healthy and living an active lifestyle are keys to wellness and prevention of many diseases. No matter how many times
people are told to avoid highly processed foods, people still make unhealthy choices. We believe seeing digestion from the
food’s point of view and learning the effects of different food choices highlights the importance of foods we eat. Visitors will leave
our exhibit with a new appreciation and understanding of how food connects to health and wellbeing; questioning food choices.
The digestive system will never become obsolete. Our exhibit will never lose its relevancy. As childhood obesity and the
diagnosis of diet related diseases or conditions continue to rise, education at an early age is imperative. When the numbers
begin to decrease, continuing education is a must, reinforcing the timeliness of the exhibit. To maintain relevancy we have
incorporated programmable touch screen technology that is easily updated.
A disciplinary core learning concept of the Next Generation Science Standards in life sciences is LS1.C: organization for matter
and energy flow in organisms. The focus is on how organisms obtain and use the matter and energy they need to live and grow.
As a disciplinary core concept it is woven throughout the K-12 curriculum, focusing in increasing complexity. Sustaining life
requires substantial inputs of matter and energy. All organisms have complex structural organization to accommodate the
capture, transformation, transport, release, and elimination of matter and energy. Our exhibit is designed to educate the public on
the specific structural organization within the human body capturing and transforming matter and energy contained in the foods
we eat. Younger visitors are able to learn the simple mechanics of digestion and the importance of food choices in maintaining
health. Older visitors are able to see the complex chemical processes that occur during the varying stages of digestion.
Interactive Exhibit Engagement & The STEM Connection
Digital Programing
Our digital programming piece is the smartphone app for You Ate It, Now What? It takes the user through all the stages of
digestion with multiple screens highlighting the stages and organs of the digestive process. Each screen engages users by
requiring finger motions to digest the chosen meal. For example, mechanical digestion requires pinching and spreading of fingers
to mimic the movements of the mouth and stomach. The glands that excrete enzymes must be pressed in order to function. Text
on each screen will pop up to prompt the correct finger motions. Symbols,
and +, indicate where additional information
and diagrams are available. The
will show animations of enzyme at the molecular level similar to what is displayed on
touch screen monitors in the exhibit. The
will also provide micro- and macroscopic images of the organs and tissues
involved in digestion. The + appears when there is information regarding a medical condition affected by dietary choices such as
GERD, diabetes, and celiac disease.
chew
your
meal
Formation of bolus;
salivary amylase breaks
down carbohydrates
Drag bolus
into stomach
+ has info on
GERD
Glands release acid &
enzymes
breaks
down proteins &
complex carbohydrates.
Constructability
Item:
Tanita TBF-215GS Body Composition Analyzer / Scale
Whac-A-Mole Type Machine
Touchscreens
Wood
Minwax Fast-Drying Polyurethane
Stainless Steel Pipe
LED Commercial-Grade Large-Screen Display
Red Stovetop PMI Cap
Plastic Tooth Chair
Toothbrush
Ringside Maize Ball
Gold Medal Bean Bags Bean Bag Replacement Fill
Pedestrian Strip Door Curtain
Price: (Per Piece)
$3,302.25 each * 2
$4500.00 +extra custom cost
$500.00 *20
$2.95 per foot 60 ft- $170.00
$10.77
$39.95
$419. 00
$10.21 *5
$19.88 per chair For 10 chairs:
$198.80
$200
$19.99
$13.79
$81.95
Imaginarium Foam Building Blocks (100 blocks)
Get It At:
Sears Outlet
Hammacher Schlemmer
Apple
The Hardware Store
Home Depot
Grainger
NEC Display
Digi-Key
Alibaba
GreatBigStuff.com
Ringside
Walmart
Global Industrial
$21.99 Toys-R-Us
Super Block Set
Circo Oversized Bean Bag
Red Blood Cell Model
Walter Products Life Size Diseased Pancreas Model, With
Duodenum and Spleen
Punch Balloons Mega Value Pack
"Comfor Cloud" Rubber Matting Cut to size
Smooth Marbelized Runner Mats
United Security Products Pressure Mat 901
Computer Water Cooling Silicone Soft PVC Tubing Pipe
Moving Walkway
Elation Design Spot 300 Pro
LDPE Glove Box with Acrylic Window and 20" long, 6"
Wide Neoprene Gloves
4D Puzzle Human Anatomy 3D Model Stomach Organs
Biology Medical Education Toy
Big Tooth Foam Prop
$159. 00 *8
$39.99 *6
$9.99 *12
Southpaw Enterprises
Target
Red Blood Cell Books
$45. 00
Fisher Scientific
Party City
Rubber Flooring Experts
American Floor Mats
JMAC Supply Corp.
AliExpress
Alibaba
DJ Depot
Estimated Total:
$51,482.42
$5.99
$21.95
Total: $1,200. 00
$32.25 *21
$11.50 per piece *13
$20000
$299.99
$1209. 00
Cole-Parmer
$19.86 Amazon
Total for 10 teeth: $3690. 00
Dino Rentos Studios
Durability and Safety
The interactive touch screen displays along with high quality construction materials make our exhibit flexible and durable. For
example comfort cloud rubber matting used for the tongue is thick and durable rubber matting. The following measures were
taken to ensure the safety of our exhibit: hand rails on walkways, floors with traction material, open top slide in view of stairs,
minimal use of small pieces and the obstacle course in stomach area is a soft durable material appropriate for the safety of all
ages.
Student Involvement
Over 450 hours have gone into the creation of the proposal for You Ate It, Now What? The dedication of all team members was
exceptional. All the work for the proposal was completed after-school hours, on weekends, and days off of school. Members
worked around other extra-curricular activities. The team met as a whole during the school day once a week for 45 minutes over
a five-week period. We utilized digital resources such as Edmodo, a social networking site designed for education, and Google
Docs to communicate with each other remotely when face-to-face work time was not possible.
At the start we did not know a lot about the process of digestion beyond the major organs involved and where it begins and ends.
Each member of the team conducted individual research scouring the Internet, encyclopedias, and textbooks to learn all we
could about the process of digestion. To elaborate on our research a professor, of anatomy and physiology, from a local college,
came to explain the details of the digestive system.
Concepts for our exhibit that did not make it to the final product were abundant. We started with diabetes but soon broadened
our topic to the digestive tract realizing visitors would learn more if they could make a direct connection to themselves. Next, our
preliminary floor plan included a blood room to explain how the nutrients travel around the body. This idea was eliminated as we
believed it did not hold true to our Big Idea. We also took out plans to have the visitor choose between learning about unhealthy
or healthy food and following a maze through. Instead, we have information in the current plans for both unhealthy and healthy
food so visitors can learn about each with more ease.
The following resources were used in the design process. Visiting Science City allowed us to visualize the space. Sketch Up was
used for creating the floor plan. Power Point allowed the team to create info-graphics. Microsoft Office was used to compile the
work from each team member into one document. The video commercial was edited using Final Cut Pro and the sound recorded
using Garage Band. Our mentors guided through materials and proposal completion.
STEM related careers include: Food science technicians, dieticians, biomedical engineers, and gastroenterologists. For example
a dietician is expert in nutrition who helps patients choose the best diet for their needs.
Healthy Habits
The Entrance
• A virtual buffet - choose your meal and see the nutritional analysis
The Duodenum
The Small Intestine
Stairs or Slide to
Healthy Habits
The Esophagus
The Mouth
The Stomach