8 Preparing for the bread mold experiment

You now need to prepare for the ‘space bugs’ bread mold experimentin Week 5. Here you will grow mold on bread to simulate ‘bugs’. You need at least four slices of bread, preferably two white and two wholemeal. You also need some sealable plastic bags. Place one slice in each bag as shown in Figure 14.

Figure 14 Preparing samples for the ‘space bugs’ experiment.

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This is an image of two sealed sandwich bags side-by-side, with a slice of white bread in one bag, and a slice of wholemeal bread in the other.

Figure 14 Preparing samples for the ‘space bugs’ experiment.

Then choose two locations for the bags. One should be in direct sunlight and airy (for example, on a window ledge), and the other in a dark, warm environment (for example, under the stairs). Monitor the bags at least once a day, ideally photographing each one, starting about a week after you have set this up. Then record your observations. Please be patient; this experiment depends on the weather. If it is cold then it may take a long time!

Now complete the end-of-week quiz.