Explore a cow's digestive system

Cows are ruminants – mammals with specialised digestive systems that use fermentation processes to gain nutrients from plant material. Cattle, sheep, horses, deer, goats and camels are also ruminants. They are herbivorous or secondary producers in food chains and have adaptations to allow them to thrive on a plant-only diet.

In this online activity, students will learn about the structural and functional aspects of a cow’s digestive syst em.

The Ruminant digestion article and image map will give additional support for your students’ learning about a cow’s digestive syste m.

The ruminant digestion labelling activity can also be used as a formative or summative tool for learning.

By the end of this activity, students should be able to:

• identify structures in a cow’s digestive passage

• understand the functions of parts of a cow’s digestive s ystem.

Label a cow’s digestive passage

Ruminants like cows have an amazing digestive system. They are able to digest cellulose found in plant material – something humans cannot do.

Drag and drop the text labels onto the boxes next to the diagram. Selecting or hovering over a box will highlight each area in the diagram.

The paper-based activities in the downloadable Word document provide opportunities to deepen understanding about the ruminant digestive system with an additional mix and match activity.

Download the Word file (see link below).