Beano Lab
Beano Pre-Lab Questions/Activities
- What is the purpose of Beano?
- What is the active ingredient in Beano? Given the information you learned in the Enzyme-Substrate simulation, predict its effectiveness in a highly basic environment.
- Does the active ingredient in Beano naturally occur in the human digestive system? If so, where? If not, where does it aid in digestion? Watch these two short videos for some insight:
- What role does Aspergillus niger play in the Beano lab? What is the common name of this organism?
(http://129.215.156.68/Images/spores.htm)
Reflective Questions
- Why did you take baseline data at time zero for test tubes 1 and 2?
- Study the picture below. What is being measured? What is the unit of measurement? Assume the measurement was taken after Beano was added to refried beans and allowed to incubate at 37 degrees Celsius for five minutes. Was alpha-galactosidase effective in breaking down complex carbohydrates at this temperature?
- Study the picture below. Describe at least two different situations that could yield this result.
-
How did temperature, hydrocholoric acid, and sodium hydroxide affect alpha-galactosidase activity in the bean solution?
Extensions:
- Is there a correlation between a person’s weight and the amount or type of microbes (”flora”) present in the person’s gut? Watch this fascinating 4 minute video from Nature to find out: Human Gut Microbes
- What is probiotics and how does it relate to the study mentioned in Extension #1? Listen to this four minute NPR podcast: The Wide-Ranging Role of Microbes in the Human Gut
No responses yet
Create a free edublog to get your own comment avatar (and more!)
