After learning about the digestive and nervous system and how they work together, I learned the importance of the systems, how they function, what the organs do, and some organs involved. Both systems are very important to us. For the most part, we wouldn’t be able to survive without any of the systems. The digestive system is very important to any living thing. The digestive system absorbs the nutrients to give you energy. The digestive system takes a path to get from one end to another end. The path your food goes through the mouth where your food in mechanically broken down with your teeth which means physically broken down into smaller pieces. After your food is mechanically digested, your food has to be chemically digested which starts when your food mixes with your saliva. When you swallow a piece of food or drink a liquid, the foods and liquids goes down a long organ called the esophagus. The esophagus carries the food down to your stomach. Your stomach physically breaks down your food using the stomach muscles, your stomach releases acids and enzymes for the chemical breakdown of food. The next path food takes is the small intestine where the nutrients from the food is absorbed to give your body the energy it needs. The next path your food takes is called the large intestine. The large intestine's job is to absorb water from remaining indigestible food. The last path the food takes is in the toilet. After reading “Digestion: An Absorbing Tale” I learned why the digestive system is important for us because the digestive system breaks down food into smaller parts so your body can absorb the nutrients. “The digestive system breaks down food into forms that the body can absorb. This breakdown occurs two ways—mechanically and chemically—and it begins in your mouth. Your teeth begin the process of mechanical breakdown. Chemicals in your saliva begin the process of chemical breakdown. As you swallow, food travels down through your esophagus (ihSAWfuh-gus), which is a tube surrounded by muscle. This muscle contracts to help food reach your stomach, a large bag-like organ.” This quote shows the different digestive systems and some organs involved in the digestive system and how they work. The digestive system is very important to us because the organs in the digestive system helps break down the food and gives nutrients to our body needed to survive. The nervous system is also a very important system to us because the nervous system controls almost all of the systems in our bodies. The brain takes a huge role in the nervous system. The brain will send signals to your body to tell you if you're in pain or if your need to use the bathroom. The brain sends these signals through electrical impulses. Your brain is responsible for thinking consciously (having to think about something) and unconsciously (not having to think about something). The part of your brain that thinks consciously is called the cerebrum which is located in the front of your brain. The part of the brain that thinks unconsciously is called the cerebellum which is located in the back of the skull. The nervous system is very important to us because this system controls sending important signals throughout our bodies. Did you know that the digestive system and the nervous systems work together? They do! The brain makes sure the digestive tract is moving, the brain also controls if you’re hungry, and if you’ve had too much or too little to drink and eat. The part of the brain that is controlling the digestive system tract is the cerebellum because a person doesn’t have to think about digesting their food, it just happens. The brain sends signals to the digestive system through neurotransmitters. Chemicals are released to help your food digest and the chemicals also work with the other systems in our body. After reading “How YOur Brain Signals your Body’s Need for Food” we learned that the nervous and the digestive system are two systems that depend on each other because the nervous system sends signals to the brain to tell your body to eat. This is an important quote that shows how the process of communication happens. “The breakdown products of foods — amino acids from protein, fatty acids from fat, and glucose from carbohydrates — regulate hormones such as insulin, which affect the process at a cellular level. They send messages to the brain telling it that fuel is needed.” This shows the different acids needed to help the digestive and nervous system work together. Both the nervous and the digestive systems work together to help us. If we didn’t have the nervous system, we wouldn’t know when to eat and drink or when to stop eating and drinking. The digestive system also wouldn’t be able to digest the food because the nervous system is in charge of helping that process.