GROUP 1 Section: STEM 12-10

Members
Corpuz, Brian Esleta, Francois Cyrus Nakajima, Joshua
Malapandan, Eunice Gamil, Lyka Jane Cleofe
Ocray, Joshua Daniel Cadorna, Darla Manahan, Vernon
Agbunag , Cyril Angelo
What makes mold grow?
Have you ever opened a bag of bread and found green or white mold growing on the
bread? Where did this mold come from? What types of condition are better for mold
growth, and what measures can you take to avoid them? In this laboratory exercise, you
will design an experiment to test on of the condition that might result in bread growing
mold.

Problem
Determine what condition are ripe for the growth of mold on bread.

I.Objectives
 Write a hypothesis.
 Develop an experiment to test the hypothesis.
 Control variables during the experiment.
 Draw conclusions about the formation of mold on bread

Hypothesis
If the amount of water that soak the bread increases, then the mold in the bread
will be more evident and grow faster because the presence of moisture affects the
formation of the mold.

Safety Precautions
WARNING! Do not eat any food in a science lab. Do not open the sealed bags. The
release of mold spores can aggravate allergies, asthma, and other medical conditions.

II.Materials
 One Medicine dropper
 Three slices of bread
 Three plastic bags (sealable)
 Nine ml. of water
 Masking tape
III.Procedure & Data
First, put each of the three slices of bread inside their designated plastic bag.
Next, seal the first plastic bag as it would serve as the control group of the experiment
and label it ‘no water’ using the masking tape. Subsequently, utilize the medicine
dropper and drop three ml. of water in the second plastic bag, seal it and label it with ‘3
ml.’. Then, do the same procedure with the third plastic bag but now using six ml. of
water, seal it and label it with ‘6 ml.’. Afterwards, proceed in storing the experimental
subjects in a place with a room temperature then document and observe for growth of
mold for six days.

Control Group
Day 1 2 3 4 5 6
Size of n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a Small
mold Patches
Shape of n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a Circle
mold
Color of n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a Grey
mold
No. of n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 10
colony
(patches
of mold)
Table 1. Bread with no water

Experimental Group
Day 1 2 3 4 5 6
Size of n/a Small Big patch Big & Big & Big &
mold patches Small Small Small
Patches Patches Patches
Shape of n/a Circle Irregular Irregular Irregular Irregular
mold & Circle & Circle & Circle
Color of n/a White Gray Gray and Gray, Gray,
mold White black, black,
White & White &
Yellow Yellow
No. of n/a 3 1 3 4 4
colony
(patches
of mold)
Table 2. Bread with 3 ml. of water
 Day 1 2 3 4 5 6
Size of n/a n/a n/a n/a Small Big &
mold Patches Small
Patches
Shape of n/a n/a n/a n/a Circle Irregular
mold
Color of n/a n/a n/a n/a Gray and Gray
mold White
No. of n/a n/a n/a n/a 3 7
colony
(patches
of mold)
Table 3. Bread with 6 ml. of water

IV.Data Analysis
Independent Variables
 Amount of water

Dependent Variables
 Number of colony (patches of mold)
 Growth speed of the mold
 Observable characteristics of the mold (size, shape and color)

Constant
 Sealed in the bag
 The brand of the bread (white bread)
 Temperature
 Number of days

Interpretation of Data
This experiment aims to prove that the amount of water that is added in the
sealed bag with the bread can affect the mold’s growth speed and the degree of the
observable characteristics of the mold that is present in the bread. The researchers
have three different subjects, the control group only have one subject, wherein the
bread is not soaked with water and placed in a sealable bag while the experimental
group have two subject, which in the first one is the bread is soaked with 3 ml. of water
while the second is soaked with 6 ml. of water, both are placed in a separate sealable
bag. Subsequently, all of the 3 sealed bags are stored in the same container and
expose in the same temperature for six days.
As shown in Table 1, the growth of mold is rarely observable in the bread not
soaked in water. From the first day up to the fifth day there is no trace of mold growing
in the bread. However, in the last day a scarce patches of mold sprouted on the top of
the bread. The shape of the patches was circle and were rather small and have a
grayish color. Furthermore, the amount of patches that was estimated by the observer
were 10 small and tiny patches.
In other hand, Table 2 implicates the data that are observed in the bread that
were soaked with 3 ml. of water. In the first day, no significant changes happen in the
bread but in the second day, 3 small patches of mold appeared at the bottom left corner
of the bread. The color of the mold was dirty white and all have a circular shape. The
next day, the separated patches somewhat conjoined into one and form a big irregular
shape patch of mold that is gray in color. On the fourth day, the big gray irregular shape
patch of mold slightly increased its size and expand at the back of the bread while new
circular tiny mold was grown at the back of the bread which are white in color. After a
day, the big irregular shape patch of mold was becoming black and yellowish in color
while the white circular patches mold increased their sizes. In the final day, the big
patch of mold had a massive increase on its size that it has become a large patch that it
almost fully covered the bottom left corner of the bread. Its color was mixed gray, black
and yellowish and it’s still irregular in shape. Moreover, the small patches became
irregular in their shape and also increased their size while their color is slowly becoming
black. In addition, the total number of colony that is last observed were four colonies.
In the last test subject, Table 3 was utilized to record the observation that was
acquired in the bread that were soaked in 6 ml. of water. The mold was slow to develop
in this test subject as molds did not appeared until the fifth day, where 3 small circular
patches of mold was observed which possess the colors of gray and white. On the final
day, the bread was now consisted of 7 big and small patches of mold. They have an
irregular shape and all are gray in color. Furthermore, the growth of molds was spread
throughout the bread rather than settling on a specific part of the bread.

V.Conclusion
Based on the gathered data and analysis of this conducted experiment, this
study able to determine the conditions that are ripe for the growth of mold on bread. In
which, this study pertains that the presence of moisture in the bread can further
increase the speed of the mold to grow in the bread with the acquired results from the
breads that are soaked in 6 and 3 ml. of water. However, all breads are susceptible to
the growth of mold after few days or a week as the bread that is not soaked with water
have developed mold after six days. Furthermore, this study also disproves the idea that
if the bread is soaked in a higher amount of water then the mold will grow faster and be
larger in size as the result from the two experimental groups suggest that even though
the bread soaked in 3 ml. have lower amount of water compare to the bread soaked in 6
ml., the bread soaked in 3 ml. of water accumulates a larger size of mold and have a
faster rate of growing a mold compare to its counterpart which have 6 ml. of water.
Moreover, molds appeared in the second day in the bread with 3 ml. of water where in
contrast, the mold only appeared on the sixth day on the bread with 6 ml. of water.
As a result, this experiment validates that as long as the bread is exposed to the
necessary condition such as moisture the molds will still grow and the amount of water
that is present would not affect its formation nor how fast the mold will grow. This
experiments need further study such as exposing the bread to different temperatures
and the effect if the breads are placed in open air so that this experiment will improve
and a varied result.
VI.Index
Materials

Three slices of bread Three sealable plastic bags

Medicine dropper Water

Actual Experimentation

Utilization of medicine dropper to add water

to the experimental subjects Sealing of experimental Subject
 Control group right Bread with 3 ml. of Bread with 6 ml. of
after the experiment water right after the water right after the
experiment experiment

Control Group
Frontal view

Day 1 Day 2 Day 3

Day 4 Day 5 Day 6

Back view

Day 1 Day 2 Day 3

Day 4 Day 5 Day 6

Experimental Group 1: Bread with 3 ml. of water

Frontal view

Day 1 Day 2 Day 3

Day 4 Day 5 Day 6

Back view

Day 1 Day 2 Day 3

Day 4 Day 5 Day 6

Experimental Group 2: Bread with 6 ml. of water

Frontal view

Day 1 Day 2 Day 3

Day 4 Day 5 Day 6

Back view

Day 1 Day 3
Day 2

Day 4 Day 5 Day 6