HELP on science project!!!

[Dina]

Originally Posted by expatgirl

Don't know how old your daughter is, Dina, but it sounds like it might or was an elementary project. Being a former elementary science teacher I hope that she learned one conclusion from this lesson: not to wait until the last minute from now on-----took me a few years to learn that one myself as I'm the world's biggest procrastinators. :)

Hope that she conducted some visual experimentations using different berries to observe for herself. If not, this might be a fun project to do over the holidays and a great learning lesson for her. At the least she should pick out several berries, make a chart, date it, and then conduct daily inspections (keeping all environmental conditions as uniform as possible) in other words all berries were fresh to begin with, all sit on the same surface, in the same room, same temps and no outside contamination (contact with water, hands, pets, etc.). Then she can write comments day by day about each berry on her chart and even make photos of the berries as they changed in time. (color changes, uniformity changes, odor, appearance and description of any mold) Quite honestly, there is NOT one correct answer in science experiments at this age level ---the fun part is explaining why you might have had different results from someone else-------(usual explanation is that it's difficult to maintain uniform conditions and keep the variables the same--example are they organic berries, berries from different parts of the country, treated with chemicals, etc.) Anyway, it sounds like a fun project..............

She's not a procrastinator. She actually began the project 7 days ago as she had to observe and note down changes for 7 days. All the observations you mentioned were things she did on her project. She just wanted to know further on what causes certain berries to grow more mold than others.

Thanks to everyone else for your two cents in this. It helps for next projects she'll have in the future.

[buckytom]

dina, i know this is late, but here's an article that'll help explain the type of mold that infects berries, for future reference.

Botrytis Fruit Rot "Gray Mold" of Strawberry, Raspberry and Blackberry, HYG-3017-94

it's a little advanced for a kid, but it might help you help her study.

it seems that the mold spores infect the blossoms, lay dormant, and begin to grow as the fruit ripens, especially under low light and moist conditions.

i'm guessing that raspberries either ripen more quickly, or have more available moisture.

i get this mold on my raspberries, and occasionally on my strawberries, when i used to grow them.
i've never seen it on blackberries.