Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hi, I am curently working on my 6th grade science project called "How does the type of cheese affect mold growth" I have my list of materials and one of the things it says I need is "mold solution" to put on the cheese. I do not know what this is or more important why I have to use it. I found an experment on the web that said I should use "Rhizopus stolonofer" but I can't seem to find why I have to use that. My mom found it and she will not let me look at it because it's a finished experment that is posted on the web.Is there any book you can recommend to help me understand the "why" part of using a mold solution.
Thanks so much
Kevin

Hi Kevin!
That is a very interesting topic for investigation. Here's a link that might help-
http://www.experiment-resources.com/mol ... iment.html
The website might be telling you to use a specific type of mold, but in reality, this is just to speed the experiment up since mold really is all around us and will eventually grow on bread if left exposed to the air. Hope this helps!
Here are also some links for the project in general, this was an earlier thread in the forum-
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... =25&t=3254

Hi Kevin,

I have definitely seen people do mold projects based on just what lands on the cheese from the air, and there's no problem at all with doing it that way. There are plenty of spores in the air that would be "happy" to eat your cheese.

Your protocol may be recommending a specific strain because then you can control exactly what mold, and how much, each cheese is exposed to. If you decide to go this route, you can buy Rhizopus here: http://www.carolina.com/product/rhizopu ... estMatches

Good luck