Question

In three to five sentences, compare the process of digesting food in an amoeba
(unicellular) to that of a mouse (multicellular).

Answer 1

Both organisms break down food to obtain nutrients, but the mechanisms differ. An amoeba engulfs particles by phagocytosis into a food vacuole where lysosomal enzymes perform intracellular digestion and nutrients diffuse throughout the single cell. A mouse uses a multicellular digestive tract (mouth, stomach, intestines) and accessory glands (pancreas, liver) to perform mainly extracellular digestion with specialized enzymes, then absorbs nutrients across the gut lining into the bloodstream. Because mice have specialized organs and a circulatory system, they can process larger and more complex food and distribute nutrients to many tissues, unlike the single-cell amoeba.