Introduction to 'Fun with Fungi' day

The day should begin with an introduction to the ‘Kingdom Fungi’. 

A slide show using images within the BMS gallery could be used, to illustrate the different types of fungal fruit bodies that are made by fungi.  The information provided in this section could form the basis of an explanation of 'what fungi are' and 'what they do for us'. The group activity ‘Let’s be Fungi’ can also be carried out as part of the introductory session.  The slide show, talk and activity will take approximately one hour. One hour should also be timetabled for each of the four carousel sessions.

What are fungi and what do they do for us?

Fungi are not Plants and they are not Animals, in fact they have their very own Kingdom.  They range in size from microscopic yeasts to the largest living organism on our planet!  They have been on our planet for a very long time even before the dinosaurs!  Today you will find fungi everywhere – in the Arctic, in the Tropics, the Dessert, in Oceans and Rivers – even in Space! 

Fungi do great things for us.  They are one of the only groups of organisms that can digest wood and are therefore called ‘Primary Decomposers’.  Without them we would have lots of waste in our environment and poor recycling of nutrients to make healthy soil.  Some fungi help trees and other plants to grow by capturing water and nutrients for them, in return the trees and other plants give the fungi sugars that they made during photosynthesis.  Some fungi make medicines such as the antibiotic penicillin and the statins which reduce cholesterol; whilst others make foods such as marmite, cheese, bread and beer.  Some fungi can cause diseases of plants and animals yet some provide food for animals in the ecosystem. 

But some may say that the most important thing that fungi do is to help to make chocolate! Click here to learn more about the role of fungi in making chocolate.

GROUP ACTIVITY: Let’s be Fungi

At the start of the activity each child should be given a bag containing a bread stick (obviously allergies should be checked), a cocktail umbrella and a small tube of glitter.

Introduction:

A fungal spore is equivalent to a seed of a flowering plant. When a spore lands on a surface it will germinate and begin to grow. Providing that the fungus can get food and water (remember fungi are not plants – they can’t make their own food) then a carpet of threads called mycelium is formed.

Activity: Let’s pretend to be fungi.

Choose 4 or 5 children to start of as spores. Give them each a ball of string. The spores begin to germinate (each child spore holds the end of the string and passes the ball of string along) making mycelium. The mycelium grows and searches for food. To grow the fungus must find food and break it down. The sorts of food that a fungus eats are dead trees and leaves. ‘Take out the breadstick and pretend that it is a dead branch from a tree. Eat the breadstick. What happens? The breadstick is broken down into simple sugars by special substances in your mouth called enzymes. Fungi use enzymes to break down wood. The difference is that we ‘take in food (like bread)’ and then digest it using enzymes in our mouths and stomachs but fungi send enzymes out of the growing mycelium to digest dead plants and animals - and then ‘take in’ the food! When the mycelium has grown and there is food and water (spray the audience with water!) fungi produce their fruit bodies (these are sometimes called mushrooms or toadstools). Let’s see the fruit bodies! (Everyone opens the cocktail umbrellas). Fungi produce their fruit bodies when the conditions are just right for them to release their spores – remember that spores are the offspring of the fungus and are similar to the seeds of flowering plants. There are millions of spores produced in each fruit body! (Release the spores…. Open the small tubes and sprinkle glitter!). If the fruit body of a fungus has a stem and a cap it is sometimes called a mushroom or toadstool. A mushroom is like the fruit of a flowering plant, e.g. an apple, in that it protects spores just like an apple protects seeds (show a cut apple). The fungus mycelium can therefore be likened to the apple tree itself. So the main purpose of the fruit body of the fungus is to protect and disperse the spores. Once the spores are released the cycle can begin again.

Note: the life cycle of a fungus can be reinforced in Activity 2: How the mushroom gets its spots.

For an interactive view of the life cycle of a fungus, click here.