A Hands-On, Multi-Station Lab on Digestion, Nutrient Breakdown, Enzyme Function & Intestinal Surface Area.
Turn your digestion unit into a high-energy, hands-on exploration with Digest This!, a 5-station lab where students model, test, measure, compare, and discover how food is broken down and absorbed. Students rotate through activities that bring abstract biological processes to life — including an escape-style organ ordering challenge, a saliva vs. water candy dissolving experiment, enzyme memory-match cards, a diffusion manipulation model, and a villi surface area ruler investigation.
This resource includes two versions of Station 1 depending on whether you want students to open a real locked box of candy (Version 1) or unlock access through you (Version 2).
Students love the challenge and movement — teachers love that this lesson teaches digestion through experience, not memorization.
✔ Station 1 — Organ Dissection Escape Code
Order digestive organs correctly to unlock the next station
✔ Station 2 — Saliva vs. Water Candy Dissolving Test
Experiment, time dissolving rates, analyze enzymes
✔ Station 3 — Diffusion & Membrane Permeability
Hands-on visuals with silly visual comparisons, cut-outs, and modeling with props
✔ Station 4 — Enzyme Memory-Match Card Game
Match amylase/lipase/protease/lactase/pepsin to correct biomolecules & subunits
✔ Station 5 — Villi & Surface Area Math Lab
Measure smooth vs. villi-lined intestine models to calculate surface area increase
✔ Full Teacher Key Included
Answer explanations reinforce content, reduce grading time
Grades 6–10
Middle School Life Science
Biology
Human Body / Anatomy units
Health Science Foundations
Special Education & co-taught classrooms (hands-on + low-text accessible)
Students calculate villi-mediated surface area change (Station 5) using measured ratios
Enzyme specificity + substrate breakdown illustrated through memory-match cards (Station 4).
Station 2 emphasizes fair test conditions, variables, and enzyme effect discussions
Students design a “new digestive adaptation” to increase absorption and justify its function.
Create a CER comparison of diffusion before vs. after digestion in Station 3.
MS-LS1-7 — Body systems break down food using enzymes & absorption.
HS-LS1-2 — Structure → function in nutrient molecules, villi, organ sequence.
HS-LS1-7 — Matter & energy processing in digestion.
Planning & Carrying Out Investigations: dissolving candies (Station 2)
Analyzing & Interpreting Data: surface area calculations (Station 5)
Developing & Using Models: diffusion membrane + villi enhancement
Obtaining, Evaluating, Communicating Information: enzyme–substrate reasoning
Structure & Function — Organs, enzymes, villi models
Cause & Effect — Saliva enzymes → faster molecular breakdown
Systems & System Models — Digestive tract integration sequence
Scale, Proportion & Quantity — Surface area multiplication via villi
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.6-8.3 / RST.9-10.3
Follow multistep lab procedures & station instructions.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.6-10.2
Write clear responses explaining enzyme/subunit relationships & diffusion.
A Hands-On, Multi-Station Lab on Digestion, Nutrient Breakdown, Enzyme Function & Intestinal Surface Area.
Turn your digestion unit into a high-energy, hands-on exploration with Digest This!, a 5-station lab where students model, test, measure, compare, and discover how food is broken down and absorbed. Students rotate through activities that bring abstract biological processes to life — including an escape-style organ ordering challenge, a saliva vs. water candy dissolving experiment, enzyme memory-match cards, a diffusion manipulation model, and a villi surface area ruler investigation.
This resource includes two versions of Station 1 depending on whether you want students to open a real locked box of candy (Version 1) or unlock access through you (Version 2).
Students love the challenge and movement — teachers love that this lesson teaches digestion through experience, not memorization.
✔ Station 1 — Organ Dissection Escape Code
Order digestive organs correctly to unlock the next station
✔ Station 2 — Saliva vs. Water Candy Dissolving Test
Experiment, time dissolving rates, analyze enzymes
✔ Station 3 — Diffusion & Membrane Permeability
Hands-on visuals with silly visual comparisons, cut-outs, and modeling with props
✔ Station 4 — Enzyme Memory-Match Card Game
Match amylase/lipase/protease/lactase/pepsin to correct biomolecules & subunits
✔ Station 5 — Villi & Surface Area Math Lab
Measure smooth vs. villi-lined intestine models to calculate surface area increase
✔ Full Teacher Key Included
Answer explanations reinforce content, reduce grading time
Grades 6–10
Middle School Life Science
Biology
Human Body / Anatomy units
Health Science Foundations
Special Education & co-taught classrooms (hands-on + low-text accessible)
Students calculate villi-mediated surface area change (Station 5) using measured ratios
Enzyme specificity + substrate breakdown illustrated through memory-match cards (Station 4).
Station 2 emphasizes fair test conditions, variables, and enzyme effect discussions
Students design a “new digestive adaptation” to increase absorption and justify its function.
Create a CER comparison of diffusion before vs. after digestion in Station 3.
MS-LS1-7 — Body systems break down food using enzymes & absorption.
HS-LS1-2 — Structure → function in nutrient molecules, villi, organ sequence.
HS-LS1-7 — Matter & energy processing in digestion.
Planning & Carrying Out Investigations: dissolving candies (Station 2)
Analyzing & Interpreting Data: surface area calculations (Station 5)
Developing & Using Models: diffusion membrane + villi enhancement
Obtaining, Evaluating, Communicating Information: enzyme–substrate reasoning
Structure & Function — Organs, enzymes, villi models
Cause & Effect — Saliva enzymes → faster molecular breakdown
Systems & System Models — Digestive tract integration sequence
Scale, Proportion & Quantity — Surface area multiplication via villi
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.6-8.3 / RST.9-10.3
Follow multistep lab procedures & station instructions.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.6-10.2
Write clear responses explaining enzyme/subunit relationships & diffusion.
