Center Focus

Mold Observation

  1. Set up this center by growing some mold! Bread works well, of course, but you may want to try fresh vegetables or fruit. Just keep it in a baggie with a little bit of moisture. You may want to grow several kinds of mold to show your students that all molds are not the same.
  2. Have a microscope available for your students to observe the mold. Have some non-moldy bread ready as well so that they may compare the surfaces.
  3. You may want to have your students use this scientific observation sheet to record what they see and write about it.
  4. Your students should observe the mold throughout the week to see how it changes. Most molds are multicellular fungi; the color that is observed is due to spores on the filaments that can been seen through the microscope.