The Toothpickase Lab
Adapted from an activity created by Peggy O'Neill Skinner
Organisms on every level, from elephants and blue whales down to amebas and lowly bacteria,
can be described as being simply bags of chemical reactions. If left on their own, most of these
reactions would either not happen at all or happen in an uncontrolled way so as to be fatal to
the organism. Just as matches won’t light on their own, these reactions need to be helped along
so that they can be controlled.
Biologists are very interested in enzymes – protein catalysts that control many of the reactions
that occur in living organisms. Enzymes are used in all metabolic reactions (and that’s a LOT of
reactions) to control the rate of reactions (so you don’t burn up) and decrease the amount of
activation energy necessary for the reaction to take place.
Enzymes are specific for each reaction and are reusable. Enzymes have an area called the active
site to which a specific substrate will bond temporarily while the reaction is taking place.
We know that conditions that change the shape of the active site (denaturation), such as heat
and pH, dramatically change the speed at which the enzyme can work. In this activity, you will
actually “become an enzyme”, which we will call “toothpickase” and cause a reaction to take
place. Toothpicks can’t break on their own! More specifically, we will model (as a class) how
changes in substrate concentration (number of toothpicks available) affect reaction rate
(number of toothpicks broken per second).
MATERIALS
FLAT Toothpicks
Stopwatch
Calculator
Pre Lab Question
1. What is an enzyme? What is the enzyme is this activity?
2. What is a substrate? What is the substrate in this activity?
3. Write a sentence to describe how mixing in another substrate affects how fast an
enzyme works.
4. Write a sentence to describe how temperature affects how fast an enzyme works.
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PROCEDURE
The Rules:
1. You must break each toothpick one at a time.
2. You must break each toothpick with two hands ONLY.
3. You must break each toothpick completely in half.
4. You must put the broken toothpick back in the pile.
5. Once broken, do not re-break toothpicks.
The Game
1. Spread the toothpicks on the lab table in a random pile.
2. When the teacher yells GO! begin breaking toothpicks.
3. After 10 seconds, the teacher will yell STOP!
4. Count and record the number of toothpicks broken.
5. When the teacher yells GO!, begin breaking toothpicks again.
6. At end of 20 more seconds (30 sec. accumulated), the teacher will yell STOP!
7. Count and record the total number of toothpicks broken
8. When the teacher yells GO!, begin breaking toothpicks again.
9. At end of 30 more seconds (60 sec. accumulated), the teacher will yell STOP!
10. Count and record the total number of toothpicks broken
11. When the teacher yells GO!, begin breaking toothpicks again.
12. At end of 60 more seconds (120 sec. accumulated), the teacher will yell STOP!
13. Count and record the total number of toothpicks broken
Compiling Data
After recording your individual group’s results for each time interval, calculate the class average
for each time interval. Record the data on a table on the white board.
CALCULATIONS
1. Calculate the reaction rate for each time interval and record in your data table, using the
formula:
M2 - M1
t2 - t1
M = number of toothpicks metabolized
t = time
Construct a graph (properly labeled and titled) and plot the data.
Table 1. Reaction rate of Toothpickase
TIME (sec) # of toothpicks broken Class average Reaction Rate
0 --------
10
30
60
120
DISCUSS YOUR RESULTS
1. Compare the initial reaction rate (time interval from 0 to 10 seconds) to the final reaction
rate (time interval from 60 to 120 seconds).
2. At any time interval did your team’s reaction rate stop increasing? When? Explain why this
happened.
3. At what time interval does the enzyme reach maximum activity?
FURTHER DISCUSSION
1. In this lab, what does the student who is breaking toothpicks represent?
2. What do you predict the outcome would be if we used 1000 toothpicks/group?
What would this represent, enzymatically?
(a) A higher enzyme concentration
(b) A lower enzyme concentration
(c) A higher substrate concentration
(d) A lower substrate concentration
(e) A more dilute solution
3. What do you predict the outcome would be if the toothpicks were more spread out on bigger
table? Why? (hint: look above at choices (a) thru (e)).
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4. What do you predict the outcome would be if two pairs of hands acted as enzymes at table?
Why? (hint: look above at choices (a) thru (e)).
5. What do you predict the outcome would be if your hands were very cold? What would this
represent?
6. What do you predict the outcome would be if we had added some plastic toothpicks to your
pile? What would this represent?
7. What if you had performed this activity with heavy gloves or mittens on your hands? What
would this represent?
8. What would happen to the rate of reaction if the enzymes were hosed down with ice water
for one minute before breaking the toothpicks? And as the enzymes warmed up again would the
rate eventually return to normal?
9. What if the enzymes were put into boiling water for one minute (denatured)? Would the
reaction rate return to normal after the active site cooled down? Why is this a different result
than putting the enzyme in ice water?
10. Which causes a more permanent change in the enzyme, cooling or heating?
Your completed lab report should include the following:
This lab sheet with the data table completed.
The graph
Your conclusion answerp[[[klls on a separate sheet of paper.