Tag: Fungi activities for kids

#STEM Friday #Kidlit Funky Fungi Grows on You

 

I just can’t contain my excitement about this awesome book:  Funky Fungi: 30 Activities for Exploring Molds, Mushrooms, Lichens, and More by Alisha Gabriel and Sue Heavenrich .

Why am I excited?

First of all, Funky Fungi is by one of my favorite publishers, Chicago Review Press.  They are leading experts at hands-on STEM books for kids.

Secondly, fungi are fascinating organisms, but are too often ignored. For a long time they got shoved into a drawer with plants and forgotten. It is great to see publishers and educators finally taking an interest in all the cool stuff they have to offer.

I’m also excited because the contents are fabulous. In addition to 30 hands-on activities you can do with inexpensive materials, topics range from what the different kinds of fungi to all their uses. I learned so much. Did you know people are making shoes and handbags from a leather-like product made of fungal mycelium?

My favorite part of the book is the series of sidebars called “From the Fungus Files.” Each features a fungus that has interesting (amazing!) attributes, like the charcoal-loving elf cup with spores that germinate after a fire and the lobster fungus that grows on other fungi!

Finally, Sue Heavenrich is one of my favorite authors and friends.

Let’s see what she has to say about the book .

An Interview With Co-Author Sue Heavenrich:

How did you get the inspiration for a book about fungi?

The book actually grew from a nature ramble at a Highlights Foundation workshop in Honesdale, PA where Alisha and I met. We spotted a mushroom growing and found out we had a shared an interest in fungi.  About ten years later, we started the book. See more about what we did at my blog, Archimedes Notebook.

Attending a workshop at Highlights Foundation is definitely on my bucket list, but back to Funky Fungi. Do you have a favorite section?

The section on insect zombies. Because: insects (of course!). I had seen zombified flies before, without really understanding what they were. Then, while working on an article for our county-wide weekly [paper], I met mycologist Kathie Hodge. She was working out the taxonomy for a newly discovered fungus that was infecting millipedes. We went on a fungus walk, and she showed me insects infected with fungi… and I asked her about the strange flies I had seen. Dead flies clinging to window screens, surrounded by a circle of white powder – zombies. Dead flies clinging to the tip-top of an onion stalk – probably zombies. I had a lot of fun learning more about entomopathogenic fungi [fungi that attack insects] and this summer am hoping that Entomophaga maimaiga will infect the millions of Spongy Moth (formerly Gypsy moth) larvae infesting our trees.

After writing the book, do you have a favorite fungus?

A favorite fungus? That’s like asking if I have a favorite insect … or book! Too hard to choose, but I will say that I like unusual fungi, like the orange staghorns that look like octopuses emerging from the soil, and the coral fungi, and earthballs that look more like leathery turtle eggs than a mushroom! And the dainty turkey tails I find on downed tree limbs – oh! and lichens! I really like lichens. You’ll find some of my faves over on my author Facebook page where I post funky fungi photos on Friday afternoons.

See a much more in depth interview with Sue at GROG blog.

Conclusions:

Although the suggested reading age for Funky Fungi is 7-9, it is appropriate for middle grade and on up to adult. Educators will love it. Pull it out for lessons on classification, decomposition, or to accompany a hike in the woods. If you are interested in nature, you need to check out this book!

It seems redundant to have activities to accompany a book with 30 hands-on activities, but here’s a few more things to explore:

A previous post about fungi with activity suggestions as well as the posts in the fungi category.

Be sure to check our growing list of children’s books about fungi at Science Books for Kids

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Chicago Review Press (June 21, 2022)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 128 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1641605774
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1641605779
Reading age ‏ : ‎ 7 – 9 years

 

Disclosure: This book was provided by the publisher. Also, I am an affiliate with Amazon so I can provide you with cover images and links to more information about books and products. As you probably are aware, if you click through the highlighted title link and purchase a product, I will receive a very small commission, at no extra cost to you. Any proceeds help defray the costs of hosting and maintaining this website.

Come visit the STEM Friday blog each week to find more great Science, Technology, Engineering and Math books.

#kidlitSTEM Let’s Investigate Fungi with Beatrix Potter

Did you know that before author and illustrator Beatrix Potter began her career writing the famous children’s classics, she was a scientist?

In her new picture book Beatrix Potter, Scientist (illustrated by Junyi Wu), Lindsay H. Metcalf reveals how as a child Beatrix Potter was curious about plants and animals, but devoted her life as a young adult to studying fungi.

Like the illustration of Beatrix on the cover, the book focuses a lens on her lesser-known years as a mycologist (one who studies fungi). Although Potter had no formal schooling in science, Beatrix Potter was introduced to mushrooms  by a talented amateur named Charles McIntosh. He became her mentor and sent her samples to study. Beatrix made beautiful detailed drawings of each specimen. She also figured out a way to prove that new mushrooms grow from spores, something that wasn’t well known at the time. However, like other women scientists in the 1800s and early 1900s, Beatrix Potter encountered resistance when she tried to share her findings.

After finishing the book, educators and parents will likely want to discuss with young readers the pros and cons of how Beatrix ultimately dealt with the rejection.

The back matter is extensive, and includes a section that gives more detail about Beatrix Potter’s life and studies, a timeline, a bibliography and suggestions for further reading. It is well worth perusing.

Overall Beatrix Potter, Scientist will appeal to both young readers interested in STEM and also those interested in women’s history. Investigate a copy today!

Activity: Draw or Paint a Fungus

What better way to celebrate Beatrix Potter’s work than to make a detailed drawing of a mushroom.

First, look at some of Beatrix Potter’s illustrations online (for example, here).

You will need some art supplies, such as:

  • Paper
  • Colored pencils
  • Crayons
  • Watercolor paints

Find a mushroom to draw.

Safety note:  A few fungi are poisonous, so avoid handling wild ones.

Fungi obtain nutrients by decomposing plants, particularly living or dead woody plants, so you will often discover them in forests.

The mushroom that we see is called a fruiting body. The fruiting body is like the flowers of a plant because it is how how a fungus makes more of itself or reproduces. The rest of the fungus is made up of threadlike strands called hyphae which form a mat called the mycelium. The mycelium is often hidden within the tree or soil and may grow for years unseen.

When conditions are right, a fungus produces its fruiting bodies. They often prefer cool, moist conditions and fall is a great time to find them.

Photograph by Karen Gibson

Some fruiting bodies have a stipe (scientific term for the stalk part). On the underside of the mushroom in the middle of the photograph you can see ridges. Those are called gills.

Photograph by Robert Pratt

Others form shelves. Sometimes the shelves are soft.

Sometimes the shelves are hard. These fruiting bodies may be called brackets or conks. They can be quite colorful.

If you have trouble finding a mushroom in nature, you may want to examine a cultivated mushroom from the grocery store instead.

Observe the mushroom closely and draw what you see.

You can find out more about fungi in these related posts:

Be sure to check out our ever-growing list of biographies of women scientists at Science Books for Kids.

Grade Level : Preschool – 3
Publisher : Albert Whitman & Company (September 1, 2020)
ISBN-10 : 0807551759
ISBN-13 : 978-0807551752

Disclosure: This book was provided electronically by the author. Also, I am an affiliate with Amazon so I can provide you with cover images and links to more information about books and products. As you probably are aware, if you click through the highlighted title link and purchase a product, I will receive a very small commission, at no extra cost to you. Any proceeds help defray the costs of hosting and maintaining this website.

Come visit the STEM Friday blog each week to find more great Science, Technology, Engineering and Math books.

A Fungus Among Us

The cool, wet weather we have been having has brought out some cool mushrooms.

(Photograph by Karen Gibson used with permission)

Quick, are mushrooms plants or animals?

If you say neither plants nor animals, then you know your stuff. Mushrooms were once thought to be plants, but mushrooms don’t make their own food. Modern investigations have shown them to be more closely related to animals. For instance, mushrooms have the protein chitin, which is also found in insects. But mushrooms aren’t animals either. For example, they don’t run around like animals do. In fact mushrooms are so distinct, they are now given their own Kingdom, the Fungi.

What kinds of organisms belong to the Kingdom Fungi? Most people recognize that mushrooms are fungi.

In addition, yeasts and truffles, molds, mildew and also disease-causing parasites of insects are fungi. Lichens, which grow on rocks in a variety of climates, are a mix of fungi and algae growing together.

Fungi range in size from microscopic to quite possibly the largest organism on earth. Scientists are making the case that a giant fungus found growing in the Malheur National Forest in Oregon could be the world’s largest individual organism, because it covers some 2200 acres. Information is still being gathered, and because much of the fungus is hidden from view, it also could be made up of clusters of individuals.

The mushroom that we see is called a fruiting body. The fruiting body is like the flowers of a plant because it is how how a fungus makes more of itself or reproduces. The rest of the fungus is made up of threadlike strands called hyphae which form a mat called the mycelium. The mycelium is often hidden within the tree or soil and may grow for years unseen by humans.

If the mushrooms are like flowers, then where are the seeds? It turns out that fungi grow from tiny particles called spores. If you have ever found a mature puffball and stepped on it, the smoky clouds that come out are the spores being released into the air.

(Photograph by Sheila Brown Publicdomain.net)

Here is a picture of a puffball, if you have never seen one.

When the spores land on an appropriate surface, they produce strands called hyphae and then mycelia to develop into a new fungus.

Activities:

1. Fungi as Food

Explore edible mushrooms by visiting a grocery store to see all the different kinds that are available. We found shiitake, oysters, white, brown and portabellas. Discuss how the types are similar and different (some kinds sold under different names are the same species, simply more or less mature versions.)

You might want to buy a few different mushrooms, and try the different flavors in your favorite recipes. You could also pick up some yeast — another fungus– and make bread with it. Show the yeast to your children and let them smell it. By the way, there is nothing better than white mushrooms sautéed in butter made into a sandwich between two slices of freshly made bread.

Caution about wild mushrooms:  Because some species of wild mushrooms can be poisonous and make you sick, it is best to leave collecting to real experts. Some of the poisonous ones can closely resemble edible ones.

2. Make Spore Prints

If you don’t want to eat the mushrooms, use a few different kinds of mushrooms from the grocery store to make spore prints. Try to find older mushrooms already producing the brown powdery spores. Young mushrooms with pink gills or button mushrooms aren’t ready to make spores yet.

Place the mushroom with the frilly gill side against some white paper and then cover it with a glass or bowl. (You’ll have to remove the stem first). Leave for a few hours or overnight. If the mushroom is producing spores, it should leave a print when you gently lift it away.

Scientists who study fungi, called mycologists, use spore prints to help figure out what species they have found.

 

Related:

We have a newer post about yeast with activities.

If you have the time, growing mushrooms from a kit can be an amazing experience for kids. Kits are available with different types of mushrooms, at varying sizes and costs. They usually require certain conditions for optimal growth, so make sure you can provide that. Check the Internet for sources.

Interested in learning more? Check our growing list of children’s books about fungi at Science Books for Kids.