Science Experiment

Question: What is the effect of motor oil on mushrooms while they are growing?

Rationale: If mushrooms absorb oil well, we can find a more efficient way to clean up oil spills, a cheaper
way to absorb them. But it might be hard to grow mushrooms on the road for oil spills.

What we know from our research: JP -we know that mushrooms grow very fast and with mushroom
spores, you can grow an entire forest. JP -Mushrooms are a fungus, and unlike plants, mushrooms don't
need sunlight to make energy for themselves. JP -Mushrooms are made up of around 90% water.

We are putting 15 milliliters of motor oil in the 2 nd mushroom kit. We put the first 15 milliliters of motor oil
in on May 3, 2019. They have been growing since May 2, 2019

Oyster mushrooms are also known as Pleurotus ostreastus. -AS

They were first cultivated in Germany. -AS

Oyster mushrooms are one of the more sought wild mushrooms. -AS

The oyster mushroom is a saprotroph, meaning it feeds on dead and decaying matter (mainly wood). -AL

They have a unique scent that is often described as sweet like licorice. -AL

The Latin name Pleurotus ostreatus means "sideways oyster", referring to the oyster-like shape of the
mushroom. -AL

Sites we used for research:

Wikipedia

https://www.mushroom-appreciation.com/oyster-mushrooms.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XI5frPV58tY&t=985s

Our Hypothesis: the oil won't grow as well as the water

Materials:

1) Oyster mushroom box kit

2) Motor oil
3) 2 boxes
4) Mushroom spores
5) Nutrient rich soil
6) Growing bed
7) Substrate
Steps of our experiment:

1) Open the kit and soak the bag overnight

2) Mist twice a day with the included spray bottle and follow along in your Discovery Book in the kit.

3) see if the mushrooms absorb the motor oil or not.

Our Results:

OIL

Water
Names of experts we contacted:

Conclusion:
Looking at our results, our original hypothesis was correct. One way we know it is right is that there were
more mushrooms in the water. We think this happened because water is what mushrooms need so they
grew better than the oil. Another interesting that that happened was that no mushrooms grew in the
middle of the kit. I think this was because that most of the water we sprayed dint go in the middle so there
was not enough water for them to grow. In conclusion, it turns out that oil grew worse than the water but
still the mushrooms absorbed it. If I were to do this again, two things I would change would be we would
water the mushrooms more often and change the substance from oil to something else.