Mold essays

Mold essays In my science experiment, it will be discussing, if mold grows faster in dark, wet or warm climate. I will be testing it with cheese. In my experiment I will be using the space in my house to test this. I will be putting some cheese in the basement. For the wet it will be put in a plastic bag with water in it. For the warm the cheese will be put in my garage for the experiment. Mold is a type of fungus that often grows on food. Like mushrooms, mildews, and other fungi, molds have no chlorophyll- the green coloring matter that plants use to make food. Molds live on food made by plants or animals, or on decaying matter. Some molds live as parasite on animals, plants, or other fungi. Many common molds can grow on bread, fruit, and other food. The black bread mold often forms a cottony, soft, white growth on damp bread. The mold gets its name from the dark-colored spores (tiny reproductive bodies) that it soon reproduces. A group molds known as the blue molds also may grow in bread. A green mold often grows on various types of cheeses. Other molds, called water molds, are found in water and soil. Molds develop from spores. When a spore of the black bread mold settles on damp food, it swells and begins to grow by producing tiny hyphae. Hypha means threads. The hyphae form a tangled mass called a mycelium, which turn produces aerial hypae called stolons. Root like structures known as rhizoids anchor the stolons in the food. As the black bread mold matures, many upright fruiting bodies form above the rhizoids. Each fruiting body has a spore case called a sporangium, at its end. A sporangium looks like a miniature pinhead and contains thousands of spores. When the spore case matures and breaks open, the spores are carried away by air currents. These spores may settle on damp foods and grow, starting the reproduction cycle over again. Some molds, such as Penicillium, produce chains of spores at the tips of certain hyphae, called con ...