Why do we all love the science fair food projects so much? I think it is because they are so spectacular and we can see the results very clearly. What I think is important, is looking at it another way. The one about the bread mold can be looked at from two sides. One way of looking at it is the growth of the mold itself, meaning growth. The other side is looking at it from the decay side, mold as part of decay.

I think the bread mold one as the mold growing is the most well known one, but now I want to look at it from the decay side and see mold as part of the decay process. What is the role of mold in the process of decay and how can decay be stopped or slowed down.

So, first what is decay? What is the role of decay in nature? What are the conditions necessary for decay? How can decay be slowed down?

For good science fair food projects we always have to start with a hypothesis, which is saying what we want to prove and what we think the outcome will be. It is not important if your hypothesis is proven right or wrong, as long as you follow the proper scientific method and keep record of everything you do. This is the reason why you have to make meticulous notes of all your steps and preferably also take photos of every step as well as the end result.

So, on to our experiment now:

What you need for your experiment:

• Three slices of bread
• Three plastic bags with ties
• Any kind of antiseptic cream
• Three tags
• A pen
• A knife
• Rubber gloves
• A note book
• A camera

How to do this project:

1. Remember to make notes of every step of your experiment as you go.
2. Take photos of all your steps and remember to do it with every step as you go until you get your end result.
3. Start out by explaining what decay is. Decay is the process where bacteria and fungi, called mold, breaks down organic matter such as dead plants or animals.
4. Now explain what they need to grow and this will be your hypothesis as this is the first part of what we are going to try and prove with our experiment.
5. Now explain how decay can be slowed down and how you are going to prove it with this experiment.
6. Remember to wear your rubber gloves through the whole experiment as you may be allergic to the mould growing on the bread.
7. Place one slice of ordinary bread in one of the plastic bags, close it with the tie and mark it "A" with one of the tags. This will be your control. (What is a control in a science experiment?)
8. Slowly toast another slice of toast until it is completely dry and crisp and when it is cold place it and a plastic bag, seal it with the tie and mark the bag "B" with another tag.
9. Take your last slice of bread and cover the one side with antiseptic cream. Place this slice of bread in your last plastic bag, close it with a tie and mark it "C"
10. Place all three bags in a warm place and check them every day.
11. Remember the bacteria and fungi, called moulds, are everywhere and you want to find out what they will do inside your bags.
12. Keeps this up for a few days recording what you see every day.
13. What is your result? The toast is dry so there is no moisture for the mould and bacteria to grow on so it should have very little, if any, mould on it.
14. In the case of the slice of bread covered with the antiseptic cream, the germs have been killed and once again there should not be any mould on it, or at least very little.
15. Have a look at the ordinary bread. The ordinary slice of bread had lots of moisture for the mould to grow on and it should be covered in mould.
16. Now you reach your conclusion, this is where you say what happened and what it proves.
17. Throw away the bread in the plastic bags, do not open them to prevent you from touching the mould and get ill from it.

This is one of our science fair food projects where we explain how decay can be prevented instead of proving what mould needs to grow on as in the usual "Bread Mould" projects.  Magrietha du Plessis