Purpose: To explore the purpose of the lactase enzyme and how it affects lactose levels to increase glucose. This experiment explores the unique effects the lactase enzyme has on milk, specifically, how effectively, and how much enzyme is required to properly break down the lactose in the milk, leaving higher glucose levels.  This purpose of this experiment is to find out how the level of lactase enzyme can affect the rate of the reaction to leave more glucose. Our hypothesis is that the more lactase enzyme is used, the more the lactase and lactose will react, leaving higher glucose levels, than with a lower volume of lactase enzyme.

MATERIALS

• Lactase
• 75 mL of 2% milk
• 6 test tubes
• Stirring rod
• 12 glucose test strips
• Test tube rack
• 25ml graduated cylinder
• 80mL glass beaker
• Stoppers
• Timer

Lab procedure

 

1. Number test tubes from 1-6
2. Measure out and add 15mL of skim milk to each test tube.
3. Test glucose levels in each test tube, record in data table
4. Keep test tube 1 as a control group, do not alter anything in test tube 1
5. Wait 2 minutes and measure the glucose levels of test tube 1
6. Record results in the Data table below
7. Add 2 drop of lactase to test tube 2
8. Wait 2 minutes, and measure the glucose levels of test tube 2
9. Record results in the Data table below
10. Add 4 drops of lactase to test tube 3
11. Wait 2 minutes and measure the glucose levels of test tube 3
12. Record results in the Data table below
13. Add  6 drops of lactase to test tube 4
14. Wait 2 minutes and measure the glucose levels of test tube 4
15. Record results in the Data table below
16. Add 8 drops of lactase to test tube 5
17. Wait 2 minutes and measure the glucose levels of test tube 5
18. Record results in the Data table below
19. Add 10 drops of lactase to test tube 6
20. Wait 2 minutes and measure the glucose levels of test tube 6
21. Record results in the Data table below
22. Clean and put away all equipment

 

 

 

Data and observations

Test Tube	Lactose/skim milk (mL)	Glucose level before	Drops of Lactose	Glucose levels after	change of Glucose levels
1	15mL	0.0	0	0.0	0.0
2	15mL	0.0	2	28	28
3	15mL	0.0	4	14	14
4	15mL	0.0	6	28	28
5	15mL	0.0	8	56	56
6	15mL	0.0	10	111	111

Analysis + Conclusion

Things to discuss in your group:

1. What factors can affect the reaction rate for an enzyme-mediated reaction

The factors are: the PH, the temperature, the enzyme concentration, the substrate concentration, inhibitors and activators.

1. What do we know about lactase

The lactase will be able to withstand the acid PH of the stomach so that the pill is going to be activated in the small intestine.

1. What are we curious about / what would be beneficial to test

We would like to know what is the purpose of the lactase in our body and how its enzymes act against lactose intolerance

1. What scientific method steps will we use
2. By step: 1) ask a question 2) do background research, 3) construct a hypothesis, 4) test the hypothesis with an experiment 5) if the procedure works, keep going if not restart the experiment, 6) analyze data and do the conclusion, 7) if the results align with the hypothesis then communicate results and if not start again from the hypothesis.
3. What scientific process skills will we use

We will use: 1) observing, 2) classifying, 3) measuring, 4) communicating, 5) inferring, 6) predicting

1. What factors can affect our reaction / how do we ensure this is a controlled experiment

The factors that could affect our reaction are: if putting too much lactose maybe the lactase we put inside won’t be enough to “digest” the lactose, we can’t exactly reproduce the conditions of our stomach. The experiment is controlled because we have precise data and we are measuring everything.

 

 

 

 

 

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