Digestive System, Microscopes, and Plant Biology Lecture Notes

Vocabulary practice cards covering the human digestive system, microscope history, and plant biological processes based on the lecture dated June 22, 2026.

Ingestion

The first process that happens in the digestive system.

Digestion

The process of breaking down food into components the body can absorb.

Peristalsis

The process where esophagus muscles push the food down to the stomach.

Bile

A green liquid secreted to break down fats; the transcript notes it is stored in the liver.

Absorption

The process where the small intestine absorbs most of the nutrients in food and the circulatory system passes them to other parts of the body.

Assimilation

The $4^{th}$ process involving the movement of digested food nutrients into body cells through diffusion and use of nutrients into the blood vessels of the small intestine through the microvilli.

Elimination

The removal of solid food waste or food molecules that cannot be digested or absorbed from the body.

Amylase

An enzyme that breaks down sugar.

Protease

An enzyme that breaks down proteins (also spelled PROTEENS or PROTIENS in the notes).

Lipase

An enzyme that breaks down liquids or fats.

Villi

Finger-like projections found inside the small intestine.

Hans Zacharias Jassen

A Dutch individual credited with first building the microscope in $1595$.

Robert Hooke

An English scientist ($1635-1703$) who developed a primitive compound microscope and was the first to describe and name cells after observing cork.

Salvino D'Armate

The individual who made the first eye glasses, also known as "spectacles."

Anton van Leeuwenhoek

The Father of Microbiology ($1632-1723$) who built better simple microscopes and was the first to observe bacteria and protozoa.

Xylem

Tissue in vascular plants that conducts water and dissolved nutrients upward from the root and helps form the woody element in the stem.

Phloem

Tissue in vascular plants that conducts sugar and other metabolic products downward from the leaves.

Transpiration

The process where plants absorb water through the roots and then give off water vapor through pores in their leaves.

Root Pressure

The upward push of sap in the xylem of vascular plants resulting from osmotic pressure in the roots.

Capillary Action

The ability of a liquid to flow in narrow spaces without the assistance of, or even in opposition to, external forces like gravity.

Chlorophyll

A green pigment that helps plants make food.

Carotenoids

Yellow, orange, and red pigments that absorb light and protect the plant.

Anthocyanin

Red, purple, and blue pigments that attract pollinators and protect the plant from environmental stress.

Glucose

Represented by the formula $CH_{2}O$ in the notes, identified as food made by leaves using the sun.

Seed

The part of the plant that can grow into a new plant; most plants reproduce by them.