The Thunder Bolt

The 5th grade classes recently worked on one of the Disciplinary Core Ideas in the Next Generation Science Standards. Students were given the task of creating a mold environment and recording their observations over the course of two weeks. 

“I realized living things could be anywhere, any size and it's everywhere. I was surprised how each could be so different from the others. One had white mold, one had a mold like black dots, one was gray and furry,” said An An.

“When we first started the project my mold was not growing like all of my other classmates and was not making progress. I waited for a while and only at the stopping point of my project mold started to grow.  I learned that certain types of food grow mold faster than others, I also learned that some types of food don't smell when they start to grow mold.  It is also pretty clear that mold can come in various colors and some don't spread like others do. I was indeed very surprised when I saw different colors growing on my bread and thought it was very intriguing.  In the end I learned that mold will eventually grow and some you will have to wait until you get,” said Gia Han. 

Mold is the common name for many kinds of tiny organisms called fungi. There are thousands of types of molds that can be found indoors and outdoors. Different molds will grow in colonies, living on dead organisms such as decaying plants and animals. Some molds even thrive on living organisms as parasites. They play an important part of the natural decaying process of living organisms in the natural world. Molds need moisture to thrive and usually grow and reproduce spores in damp or moist places. Light and temperature also impact mold growth in different locations such as showers, kitchens, damp basements, and around windows.