Abstract

VARELA CAAMINA, María Peregrina; BLANCO ANAYA, Paloma  and  DIAZ DE BUSTAMANTE, Joaquín. Why do the reactions stop? Design experiments to investigate enzyme-substrate interaction. Educ. quím [online]. 2021, vol.32, n.2, pp.74-87.  Epub Oct 11, 2021. ISSN 0187-893X.  https://doi.org/10.22201/fq.18708404e.2021.2.75875.

This study analyzes the inquiry process followed by one group of secondary students. The laboratory task requires investigating why did these enzymatic reactions stop. Specifically, the reaction occurs when the substrate (hydrogen peroxide) reacts with two samples that contain the catalase enzyme (fresh bovine liver and fresh potato). This activity is implemented in the 11th grade (15-16 years old) and the adequacy of the inquiry process that a group of students (N=4) follows to solve the scientific problem is analyzed. The results show that the activity requires the participants to act autonomously in the design of experiments, being capable of proposing hypotheses coherent with the problem and design various experiments until they respond to the stopping of the reactions.

Keywords : Inquiry; open-laboratory task; enzyme-substrate interaction; catalase; hydrogen peroxide; secondary school.

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