ACTIVITY #1:
Read the following outline in this package, and refer to this reading to answer questions.
What are Fungi?
Do you think that the mushrooms in a salad are related to the
lettuce? Many people think that mushrooms are plants. However, mushrooms are not plants. Mushrooms are one kind of fungi. Fungi are plant-like organisms which do not have chlorophyll. Fungi are like plants in some ways. For example, fungi often grow well in soil like most plants. The cells of fungi have cell walls. Plants have cell walls too. And like some plants, fungi reproduce by spores.Scientists, however, have discovered that fungi and plants are not
really very much alike. Let’s see how they are different.The cells of fungi do not have chloroplasts or chlorophyll.
Therefore, fungi cannot make their own food as plants do. Fungi must get food from their surroundings. Most fungi feed upon dead organisms.The cell walls of fungi are made up of a hard substance called chitin [KYT-in] You may remember that the cell wall of a plant is made up of cellulose.
Fungi often have large cells with many nuclei.
Fungi grow well in moist, dark places.
You now know that mushrooms are a kind of fungi. The fungi
kingdom also includes yeasts and mold.
ACTIVITY #2:
Complete the questions that follow.
Answer the questions by putting a "YES" or "NO" in the space provided.| Plants | Fungi | ||
| 1. | Are all many-celled? | ||
| 2. | Do most grow well in sunny places? | ||
| 3. | Do most have cell walls made up of chitin? | ||
| 4. | Do their cells have chlorophyll? | ||
| 5. | Are their cells surrounded by a cell wall? | ||
| 6. | Are their cell walls made up of chitin? | ||
| 7. | Can they make their own food? | ||
| 8. | Do they often have large cells with many nuclei? | ||
| 9. | Do they grow by producing threadlike structures? | ||
| 10. | Do their cells have chloroplasts? | ||
| 11. | Do most feed on dead organisms? | ||
| 12. | Do they all produce spores? | ||
| 13. | Do they grow well in dark, moist places? | ||
| 14. | Are most microscopic? | ||
| 15. | Are their cell walls made up of cellulose? |
In the space provided, write "true" if the sentence is true.
Write "false" if the sentence is false.
_____1. Molds often grow on bread and fruits.
_____2. Yeasts grow poorly where sugar is present.
_____3. Mushrooms do not have cell walls.
_____4. The gills of a mushroom produce spores.
_____5. Yeast’s produce carbon dioxide which causes bread to rise.
_____6. Rhizoids are root like structures which hold the mold to the bread.
PARTS OF A MUSHROOM - DIAGRAM
Label the diagram of a mushroom. Use the labels; cap, gills, rhizoids, spores and stalks.
Answer the following questions:
1. Many people enjoy eating mushrooms. However, some
mushrooms are poisonous.
2. The underside of the mushroom cap is lined with gills. What is their function?
_________________________________________________
3. What do mushrooms (like most fungi) feed upon?