Grade 11 learners want to investigate which enzyme is responsible for chemical digestion of starch into glucose in humans. They are provided with two different enzymes(carbohydrase and protease),starch powder,warm water at 37 degrees and basic glass apparatus and chemicals to test for glucose.....formulate a hypothesis for this investigation .
Independent variable
To formulate a hypothesis for this investigation, the learners need to consider the information provided and make an educated guess about the outcome based on their understanding of the topic.
Hypothesis: If the grade 11 learners conduct an experiment to determine which enzyme is responsible for the chemical digestion of starch into glucose in humans, then the carbohydrase enzyme will exhibit higher levels of glucose production compared to the protease enzyme.
Explain how to formulate this hypothesis:
1. Understanding the background: The learners know that starch is a complex carbohydrate that needs to be broken down into glucose for human digestion. They also know that enzymes play a crucial role in this process.
2. Consider enzyme specificity: Carbohydrase and protease are two different types of enzymes. Carbohydrase is specifically involved in the digestion of carbohydrates, while protease is responsible for breaking down proteins.
3. Relating enzymes to digestion: Since the learners aim to investigate the enzyme responsible for the chemical digestion of starch into glucose, they need to predict which enzyme is more likely to be involved in this specific process.
4. Previous knowledge: Based on their prior knowledge of human digestion, the learners may hypothesize that carbohydrase (an enzyme specific to carbohydrate digestion) would be responsible for breaking down starch into glucose.
5. Abstracting the hypothesis: Combining all the information, the hypothesis can be formulated as follows - "If the grade 11 learners conduct an experiment to determine which enzyme is responsible for the chemical digestion of starch into glucose in humans, then the carbohydrase enzyme will exhibit higher levels of glucose production compared to the protease enzyme."
Note: It is important to remember that a hypothesis is an educated guess and needs to be tested through experimentation to draw meaningful conclusions.