Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Im thinking about letting my 5th grader do a science fair project that was her idea. 1st we took 2 pieces of bread and put them in ziplock bags. One was wet and one was dry. We found out that the wet one molded 1st . Then my mother suggested that we try a store bought bread vs home made bread. We just started tonight. I was just wondering what type of research info we will need and graphs and stuff. The science fair project isn't due until the end of November so we have time.

Dear Jewels01,

This is an excellent and very original idea! Regarding what type of research you should do, I would suggest collecting a list of ingredients for each type of bread you use (store brought or home made). If you notices differences in the ingredients between home made and store brought bread you should do some research on these ingredients. Perhaps you will find that some of these ingredients may have properties that limit mold growth. Based on the results of your experiment you could expand on your project by varying the ingredients in your home made bread and seeing how adding or changing ingredients affects mold growth. If you focus on ingredients, then it will be important to maintain the proper controls. This means that you will need to keep all other variables (or differences) between the different types of bread the same. Each type of bread you use should be kept in the same exact conditions (temperature, exposure to light, location in your kitchen or wherever your keeping the bread).

As far as charts are concerned, I suggest that you chart mold growth over time. You can monitor your bread every day (or twice a day; morning and night) and see which type of bread starts to get moldy first. You can also keep track of how many areas of the bread start to accumulate mold. Does the bread contain one spot of mold, two, three, or more? This can also be charted over time. And one final point that can be measured is the size of the mold. Once you see mold start to grow, you can begin to measure it. Typically molds grow in a circular. Use a ruler to measure the diameter of the circles and chart the growth of each mold spot over time.

I hope this helps.

-Dave

Dear Jewels01,
its easy just look up a few key words about your project like mold and what it is or why bread gets moldy and stuff like that

Jewels01 wrote:Im thinking about letting my 5th grader do a science fair project that was her idea. 1st we took 2 pieces of bread and put them in ziplock bags. One was wet and one was dry. We found out that the wet one molded 1st . Then my mother suggested that we try a store bought bread vs home made bread. We just started tonight. I was just wondering what type of research info we will need and graphs and stuff. The science fair project isn't due until the end of November so we have time.

Hi Jewels01,

Unless your due date for the project already passed, try checking out this website: http://www.madsci.org/FAQs/micro/molds.html
The website is very comprehensive on bread molds and will assist you on integral factors to examine during your experiment.

-Grace