There’s a Fungus Among Us
Developed by: Bernadette Pate Holt
Spring 98

Summary:
This unit is designed to provide third grade students with a hands-on experience with the purpose, structure, and reproductive characteristics of different types of fungus.

Connection to the curriculum:
This unit will incorporate Science and Writing.

Time:
This unit will take approximately two weeks to complete.

Season:
This unit may be taught at any time of the year, but warmer temperatures may aid in the growth of the fungus.

Objectives:
As a result of this activity, the student will:

TEKS Science - 3rd Grade

(3.2) Scientific Processes. The student uses scientific inquiry methods during field and laboratory investigations.

(A) plan and implement descriptive investigations including asking well defined questions, formulating testable hypotheses, and selecting and using equipment and technology;

(B) collect information by observing and measuring;

(C) analyze and interpret information to construct reasonable explanations from direct and indirect evidence; and

(D) communicate valid conclusions.

DAY 1

Materials:
For each student:

• A plastic bag with no air holes
• A twist tie
• A small piece of food (bread, fruit, cheese, vegetable)
• A paper towel
• A "My Fungus" booklet - I make these by folding 3-4 pieces of 8 1/2" x 11" pieces of paper together and stapling. You may also want to use a piece of construction paper for the cover.
• Crayons

For the class to share:

• Water
• Soil
• Magnifying glass

Procedures:

1. Tell the class that they are going to create a type of plant today using foods that we normally eat as the medium. You may need to explain what a medium is at this point.

2. Ask each student to select a piece of food and place it in a bag. Encourage the students to pick different varieties. Put a damp piece of paper towel in the bag and a pinch of soil. Since soil contains mold spores, add a little will ensure that this experiment will work.

3. Explain to the students that there are tiny little "seeds" in the soil that they can not see with the naked eye that will cause their plant to grow. These tiny seeds are called spores. Spores are how fungus reproduce.

4. Let some air into the bag and close securely with the twist tie.

5. Have the students draw a picture of what they see in their bags in the booklets that you have created. The students may then write "My Fungus Book" on the front cover and decorate it.

6. Put all of the bags in a warm, dark place and wait for several days. These bags will need to be revisited every 2-3 days to check on the growth of the fungus. See Day 5 lesson.

DAY 2

Materials:

• A loaf of bread
• Several large crumbs of blue cheese
• Fresh mushrooms

Procedure:

1. Lay all of these items on a table and have the students take a look at them. Ask them what they have in common with each other. Accept all answers.

2. After the students have had a chance to respond, tell them that all of these foods are created with the help of different types of fungus. Bread needs yeast in order to make it rise. The blue-green stripes in the blue cheese are a mold. Mushrooms are the fruiting bodies of some types of fungus.

3. Allow the students to sample these different types of foods and have them discuss how they use these foods in their daily lives.

4. Ask the students if their mothers have ever left something in the refrigerator too long? What happened to it. Have them give the attributes of the molds to you. What happened to the food that the fungus was on? How did it change? List these changes on the board.

5. After all students have had a chance to respond. Tell them that there is another way that humans have discovered to use mold to benefit society. Tell them about penicillin and how it was created by using bread mold to stop infections in humans. Have the students find penicillin in the encyclopedia and read about it.

6. Discuss the information with the class.

7. You might also want to have the students do an internet search on penicillin and share with the class if time permits.

DAY 3

Materials:

• large pictures of different types of fungus
• pictures of spores
• fresh mushrooms
• a large piece of white construction paper for each group of 3-4 students
• magnifying glasses

Procedure:

1. Show the pictures of the fungus and spores to the students. Allow time for discussion.

2. Explain to the students that spores are similar to the seeds of other types of plants. Spores allow the plant to reproduce.

3. Have each group take two or three of the mushrooms and examine them carefully with the magnifying glasses. What do they see? How would they describe the mushroom?

4. Each group should then carefully remove the stems from their mushroom and examine the undersides. What do they look like?

5. Explain to them that these slits that they see are called "gills". In some ways they resemble the gills slits on a fish. This is where the spores are housed in the mushroom.

6. Have them turn the mushroom over with the gill slits facing down. Gently tap the mushrooms on the white piece of construction paper. The tiny black specks that they see are they spores of the mushroom. These are what get blown around, land on soil, and then begin to form another mushroom.

7. Have the students draw a picture of their mushroom and the spores in their booklet.

DAY 4

Materials:

• 1 package of long balloons, the type that clowns use to tie into shapes
• 1 package of surgical gloves

Procedure:

1. Blow up one of the long balloons in front of the class. Be sure to leave a little room at the tip so that you can tie it into sections without popping.

2. Explain to the students that inside the gills of the mushroom are these long tubes called "hyphae". These hyphae are separated into sections by cell walls. At this point twist the balloon in several places to create three to four sections.

3. When two of these hyphae come together (one male and one female) they are said to mate. At this point you will need to blow up a second long balloon and twist into several section as you did the first balloon.

4. When these two different mate they begin to form a "basidium". A basidium is a large kind of bulb on the end where the two hyphae have come together. The bulb then grows four small projections that stick out from the bulb that are called basidiospores.

5. Tie off the thumb of the surgical glove. This will be used to attach the glove to the two longer balloons. Blow up the surgical glove and tie it to the end of the long balloons where they come together.

6. Label each of the parts with a permanent marker.

7. Explain to the students that the fingers are the spores that left the mushroom when the tapped it on the table.

8. Divide the class into groups and allow them to create their own models.

9. After they have created their models they should draw and label this structure in their booklets.

DAY 5

Materials:

• The plastic bags with the food that they created on Day 1.
• Magnifying glasses
• Fungus booklet

Procedure:

1. Have the students look carefully at their bags. How have they changed? List all of the different ways they have changed on the board. This would be a good time to work on adjectives. List as many as you can on the board.

2. Ask the students to hypothesize what is happening in their bags.

3. Have them exchange bags with someone who does not have the same food stuff in their bag and take a look at the growth in that bag. How are they the same? How are they different?

4. Each student should then retrieve his/her own bag. The students should then draw a picture of what the contents of their bags looks like now and write a small descriptive paragraph about the changes using the vocabulary that you have listed on the board.

5. Replace the bags in the dark warm place you had the before.

DAY 6

This unit was written with the assumption that you would be conducting these lessons at the rate of one a day starting on a Monday. If this is true then today should be the second Monday of this unit. Two additional days have passed since the students looked at their bags. Repeat the Day 5 procedure for today’s lesson.

DAY 7 and 8

Materials:

• Encyclopedias, books, pictures, the internet, computer access, reference materials on mushrooms

Procedures:

1. Explain to the students that you are going to allow them to research and write a report on mushrooms. In their report they will need to cover the following things: (You may want to include other topics to the list below)

• Where do mushrooms grow?
• What type of climate do mushrooms like?
• Are all mushroom edible?
• What is the importance of mushrooms in our ecology? What is their primary purpose?
• How are mushroom different from other plants?
• What are some ways that human use mushrooms?
• Give me one additional interesting fact about mushrooms.

2. Allow the students ample time to research these questions and to write their reports. Stress the importance of working together as a group and cooperating in the use of reference materials. Help guide the students in compiling their reports. Leave plenty of time for revisions. This process should take a least two days. It may be extended if need be.

DAY 9

Materials:

• Student reports

Procedures:

1. Allow the students to present their reports to the class. You may want to divide them into two days for the presentations. Grades should reflect how well they covered the rubric discussed at the beginning of their research.

DAY 10

Materials:

• Bags with growing mold
• Magnifying glasses
• Fungus booklet

Procedures:

1. Have the students revisit their bags. They should be looking for changes that have occurred since they last looked at them. Once again you will want to brainstorm descriptive words and list them on the board.

2. Have the students hypothesize as to what is happening inside the bag. What will happen when all of the food inside the bag is consumed?

3. The students should draw a final picture in their booklet and write a brief descriptive paragraph as to what has happened in their bags.

4. ( As a celebration activity, you could order in mushroom pizza for lunch on this day and top it off with a side salad with blue cheese dressing!!)

Questions:

See individual lessons

Evaluation:

• Teacher observation
• Fungus Booklet
• Research Reports

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