Podcast Tour Through the Human Body

I loved our group idea for our podcast. Although we waited a little late to start this group assignment I was rather quite impressed by how well our script turned out. Unfortunately we didn't have time to actually record our Pod cast, but we read it aloud and this helped us to improve the script and think of sound effects that we would have used if we were to actually record.
At first we were just going to do a tour of residence because we weren't sure of what we were supposed to do. But I am really happy that we came up with something different because I actually did learn a lot about the human body but doing the project. We had a sort of magic school bus meets Dora the Explorer type theme where taught the audience but also tried to interact and engage the audience by giving them time to respond to what we were saying. I wish that we could have actually recorded but none the less we did learn how audio can play a role in telling a story and we came up with some wickedly gross sound effects, if you could imagine.


Our Pod Cast Script: The Human Digest Tract

Robert: Hello everybody, my name is Robert Martin and I will be your lead tour guide for today. I have been told we are going to the land down under the skin. I hear it’s misunderstood with all the smell, anyone been there before?

(Silence)

Robert: No, well then lets get this party started. Please attach your safety harnesses and hold on, we do not want anyone to be lost in this journey. Ok, here we go!
I would like to introduce you to my assistant guides who will answer any questions or concerns you may have. We have Jeremiah Clark and he will be helping the people in the far back, Elisha Allensen who will be helping people on the left side, and Caitlin Gillan will be helping people on the right.

Jeremiah: Now, just to let everyone know we are currently gliding right over the tongue. It is wet and slimy and those large rock-like boulders smashing together are teeth. They are strong, but not stable enough to make a safe landing on because you never know when they will start to shake or move. This is the main reason nobody has ever landed on the teeth.

Caitlin: Just a reminder to keep all hands and feet inside the craft at all times. If you look directly above you, you will see a punching bag. These are the tonsils; they are believed to extract certain poisons from the food we eat, but we cannot be sure of which ones.

Elisha: Here comes the pharynx. We have to time our entry according to it’s movements in order to enter safely with the flap open. Otherwise – lets not think of the otherwise, now everyone be careful, this can be dangerous.

Robert: Well, thankfully everyone made it in ok. Now isn’t this tour fun? What’s a little danger anyway? Ok, now here comes the fun part. This is the oesophagus and we will be turning vertical soon. Does anyone know what the oesophagus does?

(Silence)

Jeremiah: Here, let me tell you. The oesophagus uses peristalsis to transport the food from our mouths to our stomachs. According to this human body dictionary, the oesophagus uses rhythmic contraction of smooth muscles to propel contents through the digestive tract.

Elisha: Be careful, the walls are muscles and they can constrict you. Try to stay in the centre, otherwise they will- again lets not think of that.
Caitlin: Look at the bright pink muscles at work trying to squish us. Oh, and look at the clear fluid, that’s called saliva. It is another part of healthy digestion and this fluid also helps to break down digested food.

Robert: Alright, we are nearly at the stomach. We will have a little break and you may go and explore if you wish, and for anyone listening at home here is a quick description of the stomach.

Caitlin: The stomach is a pinkish-grey colour about 30.5 cm long and 15.2 cm wide at it’s widest point. The stomach's capacity is about 1 quart on average. Now this is where the food gets broken down into smaller pieces.

Elisha: Now everyone be very careful. The clear colourless liquid in the stomach is not saliva. It is stomach acid that breaks down food. Make sure you stay away from this otherwise you will be brok-

Jeremiah: Moving on, can anyone guess what kinds of food are being digested in this stomach?

(Silence)

Elisha: Judging by the contents, this it appears to be meat. Meat takes the longest to digest and can sit in the stomach for as long as three days, depending on the serving size. This food over here that is wilting and looks old appears to be spinach. When the stomach acids begin to break down vegetables, especially dark green ones, the vegetables become fluids or partial fluids with the stomach acid.

Robert: Okay everyone, moving on. It is time for us to go through the duodenum, the first part of the small intestine.

Caitlin: Here in the duodenum is where most of the chemical digestion takes place and it is the shortest part of the small intestine.

Robert: We are about to ender the jejunum, the second part of the small intestine.

Jeremiah: Here the pH balance appears to be 8, slightly alkaline. This helps certain parts of foods to dissolve properly.

Elisha: Lucky we’re hovering otherwise-

Everyone: WE KNOW!

Robert: Okay everyone, we are nearing the ileum. The ileum is only about 2 to 4 meters long, so it is not too much farther in the tour.

Caitlin: Notice the colour of the ileum is paler than the colour of the jejunum, and that there are more fat cells surrounding it’s walls.

Robert: Everybody, we are approaching the large intestine. This is where the remaining water in the stomach will be absorbed. Then our tour will end when we reach the elimination of waste.

Jeremiah: The first part of the large intestine is the cecum. This part has been misunderstood for many years and is now known as the bridge into the large intestine from the small intestine.

Robert: You are right Jeremiah, and we are about to enter the colon.

Elisha: Oh, I won’t say anything other than Eww.

Caitlin: Do not worry, this is perfectly acceptable. Waste elimination happens often. In fact, it is supposed to happen 3 times per day. Get ready everyone, we are nearly finished our tour.

Robert: Here we go everyone! Please put your seatbelts back on. Our exit seems to be going well. Please keep calm; we will be out as soon as possible. We are about to experience a little turbulence, please be cautious.

(Minutes Later)

Robert: Okay everyone, this concludes our tour, and I hope everyone enjoyed it. We hope we will see you again and we thank-you for riding the digestion tract with us today.

Cited Work:

Cole, Joanna, and Bruce Degan. Inside the Human Body. New York: Scholastic, 1995.

Owen, Robert. "Pathophysiology." The Digestive System. 2006. Colorado State University. 25 Nov 2007.

Mayo Clinic Staff. Redundant Colon: A Health Concern? Ask a Digestive System Specialist. MayoClinic.com. Retrieved on 25 Nov. 2007.