In this activity, students investigate the effect of the digestive enzyme lactase on a sugar found in milk called lactose. The digestive system condition known as lactose intolerance will also be looked at.
By the end of this activity, students should be able to:
- explain the term ‘disaccharide’
- discuss the structure of lactose and sucrose
- describe the role that lactase plays in the digestion of lactose
- define the term ‘enzyme specificity’
- explain in simple terms the digestive condition known as ‘lactose intolerance’.
Download the Word file (see link below) for:
- introduction/background notes
- what you need
- what to do
- student worksheets.
Related content
The article Catalysing chemical reactions with enzymes includes an animated video outlining in detail how enzymes work.
Find out more about lactose intolerance:
See our Enzymes Pinterest board for more resource ideas.
