Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

This is a science fair project I'm helping my 6th grader do. Mind you he's DL (learing disabled) and I'm not good at Science and need H E L P!!!

We have done the research and are working on the prodecures. I printed off a guideline on this project and can't figure out how we're going to grow mold on 5 pieces on bread, then spray each one with a different concentration of bleach and water. I can't get past how we can spray the bread 3 days in a row without the bread getting soggy and falling apart- IS THIS POSSIBLE?? or should we use another medium?

We are basically taking 5 pieces of moldy bread and spray it with difference concentrations of bleach and water (3 sprays each for 3 days in a row).

I did read on here that putting mold in too warm a climate will kill the mold. I have it in a shoebox in a hot Florida garage- should I move it into the A/C (79 degrees F). I did expose the bread to air for a few hours, sprinkled on some chicken broth (read is grows mold easily). No mold and its been 4 days

I appreciate any help

Hi jammeff,

I'm not sure if I can answer all of your questions, but I am sure there will be other experts who will chime in!

First of all, could you please post the web link for the science fair project that you are both trying to do? That should help me see what they are requesting.

Secondly, with regards to getting the bread too soggy, that will all depend upon how much of the bleach solution you are spraying and how fine the mist is. Does the project guide recommend a specific volume of bleach solution and how you are to spray the bread? I don't think that say, one or two pumps from a fine mist aerosol (such as for spraying plants) would necessarily cause the bread to disintegrate. In addition, over the following 24 hours, the water from the spraying will most likely evaporate. Obviously, if the slice of bread is swimming in bleach solution, it will fall apart pretty quickly!

As for the optimum temperature, it sounds as though you're on the right track. For instance, if the interior of your garage were to become damp, do you think that mold would grow? It sounds to me as though it may be far too warm - though I'm from England, and 79 degrees F is *still* far too warm for me! You could always try a two-pronged approach, and put bread in both locations and see what grows... Just a thought!

As for the non-growth of the mold after several days, I think that may be the elevated temperature in the garage - but hopefully someone else will have some good suggestions for you.

Sorry I can't be of more help, but please keep us posted on how this project goes.

Good luck!
Geoff.

Just a quick, additional note - does your bread contain contain Vitamin C, calcium propionate, sodium benzoate, or another preservative? Mold will grow faster on bread that does not contain preservatives.

Thanks for the help.

I don't see those ingredients listed, but I'm sure there's a preservative in the bread.

Since we have a month before anything else is due I'm going to try it by myself then we'll do it together. I bought clear plastic containers (cheap disposible ones) for each slice as the teacher was worried about the mold and chemical we were using if he only knew that I made a sandwich last month and took a bite out of it w/out looking first. I almost threw up- the bread was blue from mold. Funny now that I want to grow mold I can't. I really think it was do to the fact that I put it out in the garage that I couldn't get the mold to grow. So my new slices I'll leave inside and add a cotton ball soaked in water in each container (read that neat tip on this forum). I did just spray each slice (and I'm using the crusts as they are tougher) with a fine mist of water and the slice was fine- I worried for nothing.

In order to grow mold, you have to have mold spores (essentially the equivalent of "seeds"), have something they like to grow on (bread), and then keep them in a temperature / humidity range that they like to grow in.

If you have a screened in area like a pool or patio enclosure where criters won't get to it, you might leave the bread surface exposed to the air outside overnight as a means of collecting mold spores before taking it inside and sealing it in the containers for a more controlled growing environment.

Hopefully the inside of your home has far less mold spores than outside and you probably want to keep it that way by keeping the mold you are growing and the mold spores produced inside your sealed disposable containers.