Question 38
Investigating how moisture (water) affects decay
You are going to plan your own experiment. You can use ideas from the investigation about how temperature affects decay by microorganisms.
Plan an experiment that you could do to test this hypothesis:
Moist bread decays more quickly than dry bread
Think about:
- the variable you will change, and how you will do this
- the variable you will observe or measure, and how you will do this
- the variables you will keep the same
- the results you predict you will obtain if the hypothesis is correct.
You may be able to do your experiment. If you can, collect results and use them to make a conclusion.
Safety adaptation for this resource: use teacher-provided dated photographs, or only teacher-approved samples kept securely sealed in designated school storage. The source method is for reading and planning, not unsupervised culturing. Do not open, smell, touch or taste mouldy samples. The teacher handles disposal; never store them with food for eating.
You are going to plan your own experiment. You can use ideas from the investigation about how temperature affects decay by microorganisms.
Plan an experiment that you could do to test this hypothesis:
Moist bread decays more quickly than dry bread
Think about:
- the variable you will change, and how you will do this
- the variable you will observe or measure, and how you will do this
- the variables you will keep the same
- the results you predict you will obtain if the hypothesis is correct.
You may be able to do your experiment. If you can, collect results and use them to make a conclusion.
Safety adaptation for this resource: use teacher-provided dated photographs, or only teacher-approved samples kept securely sealed in designated school storage. The source method is for reading and planning, not unsupervised culturing. Do not open, smell, touch or taste mouldy samples. The teacher handles disposal; never store them with food for eating.
