Why do we all love the science fair food projects so much? I think it is because they are so spectacular and we can see the results very clearly. What I think is important, is looking at it another way. The one about the bread mold can be looked at from two sides. One way of looking at it is the growth of the mold itself, meaning growth. The other side is looking at it from the decay side, mold as part of decay.
I think the bread mold one as the mold growing is the most well known one, but now I want to look at it from the decay side and see mold as part of the decay process. What is the role of mold in the process of decay and how can decay be stopped or slowed down.
So, first what is decay? What is the role of decay in nature? What are the conditions necessary for decay? How can decay be slowed down?
For good science fair food projects we always have to start with a hypothesis, which is saying what we want to prove and what we think the outcome will be. It is not important if your hypothesis is proven right or wrong, as long as you follow the proper scientific method and keep record of everything you do. This is the reason why you have to make meticulous notes of all your steps and preferably also take photos of every step as well as the end result.
So, on to our experiment now:
What you need for your experiment:
How to do this project:
This is one of our science fair food projects where we explain how decay can be prevented instead of proving what mould needs to grow on as in the usual “Bread Mould” projects.