Working with Enzyme Models

I love to have models that students can work with to help understand a concept. So much of what we do in AP Bio is too small to see--even with a microscope.  We can talk about how these small things work, but I find it more meaningful if we can get our hands on it. We do complete the AP enzyme lab and get to experiment with what factors affect the rate of the enzyme catalyzed reaction of peroxidase with hydrogen peroxide and guaiacol.  Fortunately, before the lab we did two activities to give them some concrete pictures of what is happening with enzymes.

The first exercise we did involved using pool noodles as models of enzymes, substrate, and inhibitors (both competitive and allosteric).  I got this idea from a blog post on We Teach High School and got the directions from Mr. Mohn's blog (Toucan Play That Game). Students use pool noodles to demonstrate what is happening in 4 different scenarios.  Here is the document I put together for my students to use from those two blogs.

I loved this activity.  "Allosteric" sounds so esoteric, but when you can push a wedge of a pool noodle into another pool noodle and watch the active site change, it suddenly becomes real.

I found the Need For Speed lab on Pinterest.  I modified it to use in my classroom.  After doing the activity this week, I've decided that I want to modify it even more.  Since the students had already worked with competitive inhibitors with pool noodles, I think we can skip that part with the pennies and instead focus on changes in the rate of reaction when enzyme and substrate concentrations change.