III.A.1 Mushrooms-What Are They Good For?

Concepts: Decomposition, mutualism, dispersal, consumers, plant/animal interaction, food webs, niche, microhabitat, plant nutrition, and chemical defense.
Skills: Observation, using a search image, cooperative learning, discussion, measurement, description, and interpretation of data.
Time needed: Part One: approximately 20 minutes. Part Two: approximately 15 minutes.
Best time of year: Anytime during warm, wet weather.
Sunshine State Standards: LA.B.2.2.1, MA.B.1.2.2, MA.B.2.2.1, SC.F.1.2.3, SC.F.1.2.4, SC.F.2.2.1, SC.G.1.2.4, SC.G.1.2.5, SC.H.1.2.2, SS.B.2.2.2.`


This activity has two parts. During Part One your class will collect data. In Part Two, your class will use the data to answer the following questions:

  • What kind of mushrooms are found in scrub?
  • Are all mushrooms decomposers?
  • What kind of relationship do mushrooms have with other plants?
  • How do mushrooms help plants survive in the sandy, nutrient-poor sand of scrub?
    Can trees be helpful to mushrooms?

III.A.1 Part One-Collecting the Data

Materials:
Each team of 2-3 students will need:

  • Student data sheets (one sheet for each kind of mushroom they find)
  • Clipboard
  • Pencil
  • Centimeter ruler
  • Meter stick
  • Small paper or resealable plastic bags

Teacher will need:

  • Class data sheet
  • Stakes and flagging
  • Spoon or trowel for carefully digging up mushrooms
  • Small paper or resealable plastic bags (one for each mushroom collected)
  • Mushroom labels photocopied and cut from mushroom label sheet on page 93 (one label for each mushroom)
Instructions for the teacher:
  1. Locate and flag an area of scrub where a variety of mushrooms can be found. (You will be more successful at this after a rainy spell.)

  2. Use the question, "What happens to all the materials from plants and animals when they die?" and the information in the section introduction to have a decomposition discussion with your class. Encourage the students to think of examples of decomposers and decomposing matter. Write your list on the board. (A decomposer, or scavenger, is any organism who cannot make its own food and eats things that are already dead. Examples include: bacteria, fungi such as molds, mildews, and mushrooms, worms, vultures, termites, millipedes, and some insect larvae.) Be aware that a decomposer can sometimes be a consumer. Try posing the following questions to your class: When a vulture eats roadkill, is it a consumer or decomposer? Are humans decomposers when they eat a hot dog or veggie burger?

  3. Briefly introduce the concept of mutually beneficial relationships (mutualism). In our culture, grocery stores benefit both the owner and the people who shop for food. With mycorrhizal associations, mushrooms get the food it needs from the root of a tree and the tree is able to absorb more minerals and water.

  4. Distribute and review data sheets.

  5. Divide class into teams of two or three. Each team needs a recorder and observer. Teams of three may also have a data collector. The recorder and observer work together to answer questions on the data sheet. The data collector or observer should be equipped with a meter stick so they can collect data when the team finds a new mushroom to describe.

  6. Supply the teams with necessary equipment. Inform students of the risks of poisonous mushrooms. Students should never put any mushroom in their mouths during this activity and students who handle mushrooms should wash their hands after the activity is completed.

  7. Encourage the students to carefully observe the designated areas and find as many kinds of mushrooms as possible. Be sure they look under logs and throughout the leaf litter in addition to surveying the surface areas. Use a hand lens or magnifying glass to search for hyphae (which will look like white threads) in the leaf litter or in rotten wood. Have students fill out data sheets for each kind of mushroom that they find.

  8. Collect 4-6 different kinds of mushrooms found by your students. (Students should not collect the mushrooms themselves.) Each mushroom sample should include a label. Students should use a pencil to complete the labels because moisture will not affect pencil marks. The activity will be just as effective if the mushroom breaks into several pieces. If the mushroom breaks, make sure to include all of the broken parts in your container.
III.A.1-Part 1    Part 2    mushroom labels    student data sheet
III. LIFE IN THE LEAF LITTER LAYER
A. Mushrooms:    III.A.1    III.A.2    III.A.3
B. Life in a Microhabitat    III.B.1
C. Glossary    D. Questions for Student Evaluation