Stuck Like Glue: It’s Constipated

Instructional Guide

This unit is designed to teach middle school students about how an animal’s gastrointestinal tract is affected by being immobile for long periods of time and how exercise prevents constipatio

Intended Grade Level

6th – 8th grade. Prior to this lesson, students should have a basic understanding of the gastrointestinal tract and its functions.

Student Learning Objectives

• Learners should be able to list three reasons why inactivity may lead to constipation in animals and explain why each reason happens.
• Learners should be able to explain how to prevent and treat constipation in animals

Lesson Format

Student page

Estimated Duration: one 50 minute class period
Students will spend the first part of the class period learning about why lack of exercise causes constipation in animals. Students will then play a matching game and a Kahoot to assess their understanding of the learning objectives after the lecture.

Lesson Background

Animals are likely to get constipated when they are not active because the body is not moving and thus isn’t digesting food as quickly.  Their stress levels are also higher than animals that are active which decreases the rate that food moves through the intestines due to increased sympathetic nervous system activity. This decreased gut motility makes food sit in the large intestine longer and dry out, making it harder to move and causing the animal to become constipated.
Exercise helps to decrease the risk of constipation because it decreases the time it takes for food to move through the large intestine, limiting the amount of water absorption since dry, hard stool is harder to pass. During exercise, endorphins and dopamine are released which decreases stress in animals. Because their stress levels are lowered, the speed that food can pass through the digestive system increases and prevents constipation. Exercise also increases breathing and heart rate which naturally stimulates the squeezing of intestines which helps to pass food through the digestive system.

Activities

Students will sort different activities by what part of the central nervous system is activated: parasympathetic or sympathetic.

Common misconceptions and challenge points

• Students may be confused as to the differences between parasympathetic and sympathetic. Emphasize the difference between rest and digest vs. fight or flight, and how those different reactions impact our body.
• Students may have a difficult time understanding why exercise helps cure constipation. Explain how when our bodies are in motion, hormones are released to relax our body, setting us into rest and digest mode.

Assessment

Students will answer a few multiple choice questions to assess what they have learned throughout this unit.

Further exploration

You can also check out similar chapters within this textbook, such as those below:

Constipation Station: Megacolon in Cats