ENZYME LAB!!!

In class- In class on October 8th we did the enzyme lab! First off enzymes are proteins that speed up chemical reactions in cells. The enzyme we used in this lab was catalase, which is found in blood cells and also some other cells. Catalase speeds up the break down of hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen.

Enzyme Lab! (pages 24-32 in UP)- In this lab we tested the amount of enzyme activity in different temperatures. You measure the amount of enzyme activity by how high the bubble column is in the test tube. For part A we had to test how the catalase works. You had to set up 3 test tubes with two marks on them. One mark 1 cm from the bottom of the test tube, and one mark 5 cm from the bottom of the test tube. In test tube #1 we put catalase in up to the first mark and hydrogen peroxide up to the second mark. Then you had to measure how high the bubbles rose from the second mark in millimeters. Then we did the same thing with test tubes 2 and 3 but with different contents. Test tube 2 had water to the first mark and hydrogen peroxide to the second, and test tube 3 had catalase to the first mark and sucrose solution to the second, and recorded the height of the bubbles for all of them. Once we knew how the catalase worked we went on to part B. In part B we tested how the catalase worked in different temperatures. Each group was assigned a different temperature and you had to get your water bath to the correct temperature. If you had a hot temperature you heated it up, and if you had a cold temperature you had to put ice cubes in it to cool it down. Then you had to fill the test tube to the first line with catalase and set it in your water bath so the catalase got to the correct temperature. We had to monitor the temperature of the catalase with a thermometer until it was at the given temperature. When it was at the right temperature we put hydrogen peroxide in the test tube up to the second mark and measured how high the bubbles rose. If you had enough time you were supposed to do another trial for more accurate data. Here are some pictures from our lab:

Our test tubes...
Catalase reaction to hydrogen peroxide...
Cooling down our catalase to 15 degrees Celsius...
Our catalase reaction at 15 degrees Celsius...

Homework for the weekend-

Enzyme lab pages 26-32 in UP-due tuesday- Finish all of the analysis questions on UP pages 27 and 28 about the enzyme lab we did in class. Some questions and the graph you will not be able to do until Monday because we are collecting class data in class on Monday.

Read 10.1 and 10.2-due tuesday-Read 10.1 and 10.2 in your science textbook and make a flow chart for "The cell cycle." Help on how to do it can be found on moodle on Mrs. Steins' page. Click on October 12th on the little calendar on the right side of the page for information on how to do it. You can also find information on the format of the flow chart on moodle or in your blue reading strategies packet.

Extra credit! There are still some more days to get extra credit at many places:)

The next scribe is Sabina!