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Purpose

The purpose of this experiment was to see if certain foods mold faster than other foods, and if the environment had an any impact on how fast the mold grows.

Hypothesis

The hypothesis of this experiment was that:

• mold would grow slowest when food is in the fridge
• mold would look different on each food item
• the orange and the cheese would mold first

Materials

The materials needed are as follows:

• 1 slice of bread
• 1 orange
• 1 block of cheese
• 15 sandwich bags
• 1 sharp knife
• 1 chopping board
• 1 science log book
• 1 black marker pen

Procedure

The procedure is as follows:

1. cut the bread into 5 equal pieces
2. cut the cheese into 5 equal pieces
3. cut the orange into 5 equal pieces
4. put each food item in a separate sandwich bag and label it with the black marker
5. put each set of 3 food items in a different environment
6. check each item every day and record your observations

Data

The data is recorded in CSV format here.

Score	Fraction moldy	Percentage moldy
0	0	0%
1	¼	25%
2	½	50%
3	¾	75%
4	1	100%

Environment	Food	Day 1	Day 2	Day 3	Day 4	Day 5	Day 6	Day 7	Day 8	Day 9	Day 10	Day 11	Day 12	Day 13	Day 14
Kitchen	Bread	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Kitchen	Orange	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Kitchen	Cheese	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Playroom	Bread	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Playroom	Orange	0	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	3	3
Playroom	Cheese	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	3	3	3	3
Outside	Bread	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Outside	Orange	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	1	1
Outside	Cheese	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2
Garage	Bread	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Garage	Orange	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	2	3	3	3
Garage	Cheese	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	1	2	2	3	3
Bathroom	Bread	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Bathroom	Orange	0	0	0	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	3
Bathroom	Cheese	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	2	3	3	3	3	3	4

Charts

Selected Photographs

More photographs can be found here.

Conclusion

The conclusion is as follows:

• different foods grow at different speeds
• mold grows slow in the dark and cold
• mold grows fast in the heat and light
• mold comes in all sorts of shapes and colors
• mold starts off white on cheese
• mold starts of black on orange
• daddy’s bread doesn’t mold

Acknowledgements

• Thank you mommy for letting me use your bread, cheese and organges
• Thank you daddy for helping me with the computer