Grow Your Own Fungus

Materials:

Ziploc Baggie

Bread Slice

Eyedropper

Directions:

1) Place the bread in the plastic bag.

2) Put 10 drops of water inside the bag.

3) Close the bag.

4) Keep the bag in a dark, warm place for 3 to 5 days.

5) Observe the bread through the plastic – DO NOT OPEN the bag again.  What happens to the bread over the week?

6) Discard the bag and its contents after your observations are complete.

Explanation: Over the week, you should see a black, hairy-looking “thing” growing on the bread. This is bread mold! Mold is a form of fungus. It can grow and reproduce very quickly.  Mold produces very tiny cells with hard coverings called spores. Spores are smaller than dust particles and float through the air. The slice of bread already had spores on it when placed in the plastic bag.  The water, warmth, and darkness provide a good environment for the mold to grow.

Molds have good and bad effects. Some forms of mold make foods taste and smell bad (like the stuff you’ve grown), but there are foods that depend on mold for their good taste (like cheeses). The greenish mold that forms on oranges and bread is used to make a medicine called penicillin.

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