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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.
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
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
The procedure is as follows:
- cut the bread into 5 equal pieces
- cut the cheese into 5 equal pieces
- cut the orange into 5 equal pieces
- put each food item in a separate sandwich bag and label it with the black marker
- put each set of 3 food items in a different environment
- check each item every day and record your observations
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 |
More photographs can be found here.
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
- Thank you mommy for letting me use your bread, cheese and organges
- Thank you daddy for helping me with the computer
