Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

I am a 7th grader at Cherry Creek Challenge School, and I love math and science! I was very interested in the slime mold project, as the idea of something so simple and basic having a primitive intelligence is really fascinating! My project has been going really well, and I have plenty of active cultures that I continue to grow and care for. I have run into problems with the maze part of the experiment. I (finally) got the slime mold to grow throughout the maze, but when I added the oat flakes to the start and finish of the maze, it basically grew OVER the walls to find the shortest distance between food sources. I am wondering if you have suggestions on how I get it to actually grow THROUGH the maze, rather than over the walls!

Thank you for your time and help,
AJ Springer
[email protected]

Hi and welcome to Scibuddies.

Actually I think it shows exceptional 'intelligence' on the part of the slime mold to take the shortcut! That was the shortest route.

I found this blog on Scibuddies about the slime mold maze experiment and their maze, which was cut out of a clear acetate sheet, seems to have contained the mold: https://www.sciencebuddies.org/blog/201 ... cience.php

They don't say if they did anything to the acetate that would make it different from what was used in the procedure in the Scibuddies project, "Smarter than Your Average Slime": https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... #procedure

I would think making the maze thicker might keep the mold from crawling over the acetate, so you could try cutting out several sheets with the same pattern and putting them together to make one thicker maze.

Maybe you just have an exceptionally smart slimey!

Please let us know how you make out with the experiment.

Good luck!

Sybee