How to Create a Food Chart for Science on Molding
Mold begins as a tiny, invisible spore that grows as it feeds on old food. There are many thousands of kinds of mold, and they grow under different conditions. Some prefer fruit while others prefer bread; some need heat to grow, while others can live in your refrigerator; some are green, while others are white, blue or black. They also grow at different rates. Your science experiment on mold can compare these attributes, and your chart can display your findings.
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Things You'll Need
- Food
- Jars or Ziploc plastic bags
- Ruler (optional)
- Paper and colored pencils
Instructions
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1
Dampen three pieces of bread, cheese or fruit. Put each piece into its own jar or Ziploc plastic bag.
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2
Put one piece of food on a counter, out of direct sunlight. Put a second piece in direct sunlight and a third piece in the refrigerator.
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3
Observe the foods each evening. Look for mold growth. When you start to see mold develop, write down the date, the color of the mold and how big it is. You can estimate the percentage of the food the mold covers, or you can measure the diameter of the mold growth with a ruler.
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4
Track the growth of the mold for one week or the length of time your teacher specifies. When the experiment period is finished, throw away all the moldy pieces of food without opening the jars or bags.
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5
Make a line graph of your results. Put the day of the experiment on the graph's x-axis and the size of the growth on the graph's y-axis. Graph the mold on the room-temperature food in green, the sun-exposed food in red and the refrigerated mold in blue.
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Count the total number of mold growths and see what colors they are. Make a pie chart showing the different colors of mold. You can also make a pie chart for each temperature, and compare how many different types of mold grew in the sun, out of the sun and in the refrigerator.
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References
Resources
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