• Home
  • Books
    • Sharks Unhooked: The Adventures of Cristina Zenato, Underwater Ranger
    • Giant Rays of Hope: Protecting Manta Rays to Safeguard the Sea
    • A River’s Gifts: The Mighty Elwha River Reborn
    • Planet Ocean
    • Eavesdropping on Elephants
    • Neema’s Reason To Smile
    • Zoo Scientists to the Rescue
    • Sea Otter Heroes: The Predators That Saved an Ecosystem
    • Plastic, Ahoy! Investigating the Great Pacific Garbage Patch
    • Ebola: Fears and Facts
    • Jingle the Brass
    • Nugget on the Flight Deck
    • Surviving Animal Attacks
    • Elite Operations series
    • Energy Lab series
    • QuickReads Fluency Library
    • Books for English language-learners
    • Writers write all kinds of things
  • Author Visit Programs
    • FAQs
    • Calendar
  • Blog
  • Educator Resources
    • STEM + Literacy Activities
    • Teacher Guides
    • Earth Day Every Day newsletter archive
    • LitLinks
    • KidLit creators who make kids want to read
  • Writer Resources
    • Writing Classes
    • Manuscript or Proposal Critiques
    • How I got my start
  • Who is Patricia Newman?
  • Contact
    • Stay In Touch
    • Earth Day Every Day newsletter archive
Patricia NewmanPatricia Newman
Sibert Honor Children's Book Author & Environmentalist
  • Home
  • Books
    • Sharks Unhooked: The Adventures of Cristina Zenato, Underwater Ranger
    • Giant Rays of Hope: Protecting Manta Rays to Safeguard the Sea
    • A River’s Gifts: The Mighty Elwha River Reborn
    • Planet Ocean
    • Eavesdropping on Elephants
    • Neema’s Reason To Smile
    • Zoo Scientists to the Rescue
    • Sea Otter Heroes: The Predators That Saved an Ecosystem
    • Plastic, Ahoy! Investigating the Great Pacific Garbage Patch
    • Ebola: Fears and Facts
    • Jingle the Brass
    • Nugget on the Flight Deck
    • Surviving Animal Attacks
    • Elite Operations series
    • Energy Lab series
    • QuickReads Fluency Library
    • Books for English language-learners
    • Writers write all kinds of things
  • Author Visit Programs
    • FAQs
    • Calendar
  • Blog
  • Educator Resources
    • STEM + Literacy Activities
    • Teacher Guides
    • Earth Day Every Day newsletter archive
    • LitLinks
    • KidLit creators who make kids want to read
  • Writer Resources
    • Writing Classes
    • Manuscript or Proposal Critiques
    • How I got my start
  • Who is Patricia Newman?
  • Contact
    • Stay In Touch
    • Earth Day Every Day newsletter archive
5044098992_166e484cd1_b

LitLinks: How to use funky fungi to teach across your curriculum

August 24, 2022 LitLinks, LitLinks-Grade 3-5, LitLinks-Grade 6-8 No Comments
LitLinks Logo-1 (2)

GUEST BLOGGERS ALISHA GABRIEL AND SUE HEAVENRICH


We wrote Funky Fungi for kids – and their adults – who want to know more about the moldy lunch at the back of their locker, how insects get zombie-fied, and whether it’s possible to create biodegradable packing material from mushrooms. Fungi are an amazing and diverse kingdom. They grow everywhere, from the coldest corner of Antarctica to hot, sandy desert dunes. They form partnerships with plants, and some even help us clean up the toxic messes we make. Some fungi eat our crops; others protect them. Some look like the familiar mushrooms you find on pizza, and others are truly funky.

Funky Fungi COVER lo rez

And here’s the thing: mycologists, the scientists who study fungi, believe we have only discovered five percent of the fungi living on our plant. So you might find an entirely new species in your yard!

Before you can discover a new fungus, you have to learn a bit about the fungi that have already been described and named. So let’s get started.

Activity #1: Fungus finding (observation, drawing, writing)

  • Choose a spot to sit, preferably near a tree or bush. Spend at least one minute looking around and observing the area without talking.
  • Sketch out a rough diagram of the area, including where you’re sitting.
  • Close your eyes and listen. What do you hear? From which direction? Jot down your observations.
  • Smell the air. What do you notice? Flowers? Mown grass? An earthy scent? Make note.
  • Where are your feet resting? On concrete, grass, soil, pebbles, or something else? How does it feel?
  • Look around again. Look high, medium, and low. What do you see this time? Do you notice lichens on rocks or tree trunks? Dainty mushrooms in the grass, or pebble-sized bird’s nest fungi beneath dandelions? Polypores jutting from a rotting stump? Make notes.
mushroom_3
mushroom_2
mushroom_1
fungi_ lichen

Activity #2: Turning field notes into poetry (writing)

Writing haiku is a great way to use some of the words and images from your earlier nature observations. If you’re doing this as a group activity, you may want to generate some word lists: what mushrooms (and lichens and other fungi) look like; where they are found; smells you noticed; sounds you noticed.

Now it’s time to start writing some haiku. Haiku is a traditional Japanese poem that is short – more like a postcard than a letter. Haiku have only three lines:

  • The first line has five syllables
  • The second has seven syllables
  • The last line has five syllables

To get started, think about what you want to say. Maybe you saw some crusty lichen growing on a rock or an old board. Jot down words that describe it. What observation do you want to share?

Beneath red maples,

this crusty green invader

covers old stone.

Activity #3: What You Hear is What You See (language, observation, drawing)

You’ll need a partner, a sketch book, some colored pencils or crayons, and maybe a blindfold. One way to do this is have your partner sit in a chair with their back to you. They get the art materials. You get a mushroom or a funky fungus of some kind. Or perhaps you find a really cool mushroom in your yard – then cover it up while you bring your drawing partner over.

Your job is to describe the fungus as best you can. Your partner’s job is to draw what you describe. Start by telling your partner where the fungus is located. In the grass, on a rock, on a fallen log? When you begin to describe the fungus, try to help them picture its size by comparing it to everyday objects. Is it taller than your shoe? Could the cap fit in the palm of your hand? Remember to share important details: does it have a cap on a stalk? Does it look like a dried-up chicken claw? Does it have gills or pores? Be sure to tell them about its texture, color, size, and more.

When your partner is done drawing, they can turn around and you can both compare the drawing to the real fungus.

If you don’t have a partner, try drawing your fungus without looking at your paper. Begin by placing your pencil on the paper, and then look at the fungus. Keep your eyes on the fungus while you draw. No peeking at the paper until you’re finished!

Activity #4: Make a Spore Print (science)

Mushrooms have spores, but they are so tiny that you normally don’t see them. Unless you stomp on a puffball and send up that smoky cloud of spores. Mycologists (mushroom scientists) use spore prints to help identify a fungus. They look at the color, shape, and texture of the spores. Making a spore print is pretty easy to do, and one of the activities we include in Funky Fungi. We’re sharing it here so you can try it out.

spore_print_activity
Instructions for making your own spore print
spore print
Spore print

A couple more things to do with fungi

  • Toss some shrooms onto your pizza or into a stirfry
  • Go on a Fungus Finding Expedition. Grab a friend and a camera and go for a walk. Take pictures of the mushrooms, lichens, and other fungi you meet along the way.

There’s a bunch more cross-curricular activities in Funky Fungi: 30 Activities for Exploring Molds, Mushrooms, Lichens, and More!

Featured image credit: “Fungi” by Dave McLear is licensed under CC BY 2.0.


author_Sue Heavenrich with fungi

Sue Heavenrich is biologist and former high school science teacher. Now she writes books for kids and shares hands-on science activities and reviews STEM books on her blog, Archimedes Notebook. To learn more about her, visit her website or follow her on Facebook where she posts photos of fungi every Friday.

author_Alisha Gabriel

Alisha Gabriel is an elementary music teacher and adjunct professor at Southwestern University. Not only has she used her writing skills to win four grants to benefit her students, but she’s played flute and piccolo for  video games – and even a TV commercial! To learn more about her, visit her website or follow her on twitter or Instagram.


Click for more LITLINKS STEM + Literacy activities

Tags: STEM+LiteracySTEM+Literacy Natural Science
No Comments
Share
0

You also might be interested in

Smoke_3457027013_e51d30cd95_b

LitLinks: Can smoke be useful? A research challenge for students

Oct 6, 2021

GUEST BLOGGER HENRY HERZ Pre-reading I Am Smoke is a[...]

Ticktock cover

LitLinks: The case for reverse engineering – Why children should dismantle broken (or even perfectly good) stuff

Sep 4, 2019

GUEST BLOGGER: SHANA KELLER Without realizing it, we often stem[...]

"portraits_Ethiopia" by Victor Bezrukov is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

LitLinks: Family + Diversity + Poetry + Math – Finding #STEM in family

Jul 29, 2020

GUEST BLOGGER JANAY BROWN-WOOD, PhD Helping children see the math[...]

Leave a Reply

Your email is safe with me.
Cancel Reply

Click the logo to have LitLinks delivered to your inbox

LitLinks Logo-2022

Author Visits

https://youtu.be/zj6n-RFOcPA?si=8WCTnyXbTiwYumYo
https://youtu.be/ziN0UrqaDYI

Earth Day Every Day Newsletter Archive

Earth-Day-Every-Day-newsletter-banner

Post Categories:

Blog Archive

Top Posts

LitLinks: How to share our ocean connections with kids and teens

LitLinks: Let’s learn to decode photos in STEM nonfiction

LitLinks: How Elephants Can Make Your Sound Unit ROAR!

LitLinks: Easy ways to build students’ science communication skills

Proof that science connects kids to the larger world

Recent Comments

  • Danna Smith on LitLinks: Did you know goats can teach children about homonyms? I love this series of books!
  • Raven Howell on LitLinks: Did you know goats can teach children about homonyms? Absolutely love this piece you wrote! Thanks for sharing your…
  • Annie Lynn on LitLinks: 3 easy ways to use animals to introduce onomatopoeia Wonderful idea to link sounds and musical instruments to nature…
Empowering young readers to act

Latest Blog Posts

  • LitLinks: How to use conservation to invigorate student writing
    LitLinks: How to use conservation to invigorate student writing
  • LitLinks: How playing with existing ideas might lead to new ones
    LitLinks: How playing with existing ideas might lead to new ones
  • LitLinks: How to create a sniffing map to explore our sense of smell
    LitLinks: How to create a sniffing map to explore our sense of smell

Connect with me on social media

Action Shots

Check out the STEM Tuesday Blog

© 2025 — Patricia Newman

  • Home
  • Books
    • Sharks Unhooked: The Adventures of Cristina Zenato, Underwater Ranger
    • Giant Rays of Hope: Protecting Manta Rays to Safeguard the Sea
    • A River’s Gifts: The Mighty Elwha River Reborn
    • Planet Ocean
    • Eavesdropping on Elephants
    • Neema’s Reason To Smile
    • Zoo Scientists to the Rescue
    • Sea Otter Heroes: The Predators That Saved an Ecosystem
    • Plastic, Ahoy! Investigating the Great Pacific Garbage Patch
    • Ebola: Fears and Facts
    • Jingle the Brass
    • Nugget on the Flight Deck
    • Surviving Animal Attacks
    • Elite Operations series
    • Energy Lab series
    • QuickReads Fluency Library
    • Books for English language-learners
    • Writers write all kinds of things
  • Author Visit Programs
    • FAQs
    • Calendar
  • Blog
  • Educator Resources
    • STEM + Literacy Activities
    • Teacher Guides
    • Earth Day Every Day newsletter archive
    • LitLinks
    • KidLit creators who make kids want to read
  • Writer Resources
    • Writing Classes
    • Manuscript or Proposal Critiques
    • How I got my start
  • Who is Patricia Newman?
  • Contact
    • Stay In Touch
    • Earth Day Every Day newsletter archive
Prev Next