How Does Mould Grow?

This term we have been learning about how mould grows. When we finished learning how they grew we created an explanation on how they grow. What I found easy was getting the information down. What I found hard was expanding on those ideas. Next time I will be more descriptive.

Planning

Have you ever wondered what mould is and how it grows? Well mould is not an animal or plant. It is a type of Fungi. Any type of fungi starts off as a spore which is a tiny reproductive cell. They then grow into mould or fungi but there is more to the process.

Mould starts off as a spore. Where do these spores come from and what are they? Spores can come from any type of fungi such as mould. A spore is a cell which can keep on producing more and more fungi and mould. To the eye spores are invisible because they are very small. When spores come off the fungi they become airborne. They float in the air and onto other surfaces or food.

What happens when the spore lands on another surface or food? When they land on another surface they start to grow into something called hypha or hyphae. Hyphae is a branch filament that makes up the mycelium of fungus. These hyphae produce enzymes which causes the food source to break down.

As the hyphae becomes bigger and grows more and more they grow into something which appears to look like a cobweb. What appears to be a cobweb is actually called mycelium. Mycelium is the vegetative part of fungus which is made up of hyphae. This mycelium is what then turns into the fungus or mould.

This is how fungus and mould grow. From a small tiny spore into a fungus.