Oops!!!

This week in AP Biology we attempted to do two labs. Our first lab involved enzymes. In this lab we used hydrogen peroxide as a substrate and the enzyme in this lab would be peroxidase, an enzyme that is found in potatoes. In this lab we would dilute the hydrogen peroxide with water and add blended potato and water. When putting the two substances together the peroxidase in the potato would catalyze hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen. We were going to see the rate of reaction of this catabolic reaction in different pHs, but unfortunately we prepared our different pH solutions too early and they began to mold. We now have to make more solutions of different pH and then we will be able to perform the lab. Our second lab dealt with cellular respiration. In this lab we were going to compare the amount of air produced by germinating peas, non-germinating peas and glass beads, and glass beads. We had six vials that we numbered one through six. In vial one we placed ten germinating peas. In vial two we put 10 non-germinating peas and a certain number of glass beads that made the volume of the germinating peas and non-germinating equal. In vial three we put only glass beads that equaled the volume of the germinating peas. We repeated this in vials four through six. After this was finished we placed vials one through three in a room temperature water bath and four through six in cool (10⁰C) water bath. The lab was not successful because the vials had repirometers on top of them and when the vials fell into the water the repirometers did also which screwed up the lab. This upcoming week in AP Biology we will restart the cellular respiration lab and will soon restart the enzyme lab.