Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hi guys, I am doing this for my science fair project https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... p011.shtml and I need to know what the experimental group for this project is. I also want to verify if my control group is correct. I think all the controls are the amount of potatoes, amount of hydrogen peroxide, amount of distilled water, and type of water. Also, I have another question. I know that the temperature is the independent variable for the experiment and the dependant variable is the amount of enzyme activity, but how do I measure the activity of the enzyme when I test it at different temperatures??? Thank you

Hello,

You have picked an excellent project! It sounds like you want to test how different temperatures affect enzyme activity, so you are correct with your identification of the independent and dependent variables. On the background tab on the link you posted to the project website, the fourth paragraph actually describes how you will be measuring the activity of the enzyme.
It's the paragraph that starts with "The catalase enzyme is found in animal and plant tissues…"

Secondly, the experimental and control groups are designed to allow you to make a conclusion. So in this case, the experimental groups will be the groups where you change the temperature. Since you are looking at how different temperatures affect enzyme activity, you need a group where you don't change the temperature as a baseline to compare to. This will be your control group, which in this case could be your enzyme activity at room temperature. The amount of potatoes, hydrogen peroxide, etc. are actually controlled variables, or more commonly known as constants.

Hope this helps. Please let us know if you have any more questions!

Regards,
Surya

Thank you so much