MUSHROOMS
Fun in the Class - Teachers Resources
Part 2
Recommended for grades 2-5
White | Crimini | Portabella
For additional Mushrooms In Schools resources please visit
www.mushroomsinschools.com
Activity: Coloring and Word Search
Materials Needed:
• Coloring sheet (page 3).
• Word search (page 4).
Teaching and Learning Strategies:
1. Teacher gives students both activity sheets, depending on grade level.
2. Teacher has the option to go over the different Cap Crew characters and discuss with the class which type of mushroom they are (below).
Assessment and Evaluation Strategies:
Teacher marks the coloring sheet and word search for completion.
Cap Crew Characters (left to right)
Bella: Portabella Mushrooms have a large cap that can measure up to 6 inches in diameter.
Their meaty texture makes them a flavorful vegetarian alternative.
Minnie: Crimini mushrooms are also known as Baby Bellas or browns. Crimini mushrooms are
similar to whites, but have a light tan to rich-brown cap and a firmer texture.
Noki: Enoki mushrooms have tiny, button-shaped caps and long thin stems.
Cap: White mushrooms are the most popular mushroom. Whites represent about 90% of
mushrooms consumed in the United States.
Pearl: Oysters mushrooms can be gray, pale yellow or even blue with a velvety texture.
Taki: Shiitake mushrooms have a meaty texture when cooked. Tan to
dark brown with umbrella shaped caps, wide open veils, tan gills, and
curved stems.
Word Search Answers
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Activity: Coloring
Get creative! Color in your favorite or all of the cap crew characters, do your best to stay inside the lines.
Bella
Minnie
Noki
Cap
Taki
Pearl
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Activity: Word Search
WORDS:
WHITE CRIMINI ENOKI
FRESH FUNGI MUSHROOMS
OYSTER PORTABELLA SHIITAKE
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Part 2
Activity: Mushroom Math
Materials Needed:
• Math equations work sheet (page 6).
Teaching and Learning Strategies:
1. Teacher gives students the math equations worksheet (page 6).
2. Teacher leads a class discussion about addition, subtraction and multiplication.
3. Students complete the work sheet individually.
Assessment and Evaluation Strategies:
Teacher marks the work sheet for completion.
Answers:
• F = 1
• U = 2
• N = 3
• G = 4
• I = 5
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Activity: Mushroom Math
Answer the Riddle
Answer the following riddle by completing the math equations and putting the numbers in order of
smallest to largest. Write the letters in the blank spaces to find the answer.
Q: Why did the Mushroom get invited to all the parties?
A: ‘Cuz he’s a __ __ __ __ __
6
U
G
1x2=
1+8-5=
N
F
I
2x3-3=
10 - 5 - 4 =
3x3-4=
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Part 2
Activity: Lifecycle of a Wild
Mushroom
Materials Needed:
• Mushroom Lifecycle teacher resource (page 8).
• Mushroom Lifecycle infographic (page 9).
• Mushroom Lifecycle stages work sheet (page 10).
Teaching and Learning Strategies:
1. Teacher distributes the Mushroom Lifecycle infographic and discusses the different stages/lifecycle of how a mushroom reproduces and grows.
2. Teacher distributes the Mushroom Lifecycle stages work sheet to students.
3. Teacher will ask students to put the infographic away and using the knowledge they just learned, students individually complete the worksheet by correctly labelling the stages 1-5.
Assessment and Evaluation Strategies:
Teacher marks the work sheet for completion.
Answers:
• 4
• 3
• 5
• 2
• 1
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Part 2
Activity: Lifecycle of a Wild
Mushroom
Stage 1:
Mushrooms produce spores, from their gills, and drop them onto the ground and in the air to spread.
They are basically the seeds and are used to spread the next generation of fungi. The spores are released
and drop to the surface and make contact with moisture on the ground or humidity in the air.
Stage 2:
The spores sink down into the soil, grow into hyphae, and meet compatible spores.
Stage 3:
After meeting compatible spores they begin producing mycelium. The mycelium grows into a larger
mass and spreads out, searching for nutrients and moisture, colonizing its environment and consuming
the substrate around it. Once the mycelium has grown enough to break through the surface it is exposed
to sunlight and initiates the next process of growth.
Stage 4:
The actual mushrooms begin to form. The temperature of the environment and the amount of light
exposure will determine when the mushrooms will begin fruiting. Once these specific settings are
achieved pinheads will start to form.
Stage 5:
Shortly after, the pinheads will grow into fully mature mushrooms with stems and caps, the caps will
stretch out and open revealing the gills underneath. The gills are where the spores are collected before
released and are held in by a thin layer of mushroom skin called the “veil”. Once the mushroom cap
grows large enough it will tear the veil releasing the spores and repeating the entire cycle.
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Activity: Lifecycle of a Wild
Mushroom
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Part 2
Activity: Lifecycle of a Wild
Mushroom
Label the 5 stages of mushroom growth
STAGE
The actual mushrooms begin to form. Once the
correct environmental settings are available the
pinheads start to form.
STAGE
After meeting compatible spores they begin
producing mycelium. The mycelium grows into a
larger mass and spreads out searching for nutrients
and moisture.
STAGE
Shortly after, the pinheads grow into fully mature
mushrooms with stems and caps, the caps stretch out
and open revealing the gills underneath.
STAGE
STAGE
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The spores sink down into the soil, grow into hyphae,
and meet compatible spores.
The reproductive part of the mushroom, the gills –
releases millions of tiny spores that drift away in the
wind.
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Part 2