Catalase
Catalase is a protein in living things that breaks down hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen.
A jar holds a mix of small white beads (hydrogen peroxide) and water. You drop in a small block — the catalase. The beads quickly break apart into even tinier dots (water) and rising bubbles (oxygen). The block sits unchanged at the bottom, ready to break apart the next batch.
Explaining catalase by grade level
Cut a potato and add hydrogen peroxide. See the bubbles form? That fizz is oxygen gas. A helper inside the potato called catalase breaks the liquid apart. It turns it into water and tiny gas bubbles.
Projects that explore catalase
Catalase is a protein that breaks down hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen gas. In liver and potato tissue, this reaction happens fast enough to produce visible fizzing. You can measure how quickly this protein works by tracking the rising column of froth over time.
Catalase is a protein in potato tissue that breaks hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen. The released oxygen pushes a small piece of filter paper to the surface of a test tube. Below 40 degrees the paper rises in seconds, but above 45 degrees it slows sharply.