Under the direction of teacher Sima Lis, Elwood-John H. Glenn High School science students studying biochemistry recently built models in a lab to demonstrate the processes of dehydration synthesis and hydrolysis. The students initially built glucose molecules by using a one-dimensional example on the lab handout to create their own physical model using gummy bears and toothpicks. They were responsible for assigning each of the three colors of gummy bears to a specific element – carbon, hydrogen or oxygen – and bonding the elements in the correct structure. Demonstrating dehydration synthesis, the students “synthesized” the disaccharide maltose by removing two hydrogens and one oxygen, which equals water. Once they built their large molecule, they “digested” it by adding the water back in demonstrating hydrolysis.

Date Added: 11/15/2022