Don't Forget the Fungi!

My favorite biology joke:  What did the pepperoni say to the mushroom on the pizza?


Answer:  You're a Fun-Guy!  

My unit on the fungi is one of my favorite units to teach.  Most of the students in my biology class have never had any instruction about the Kingdom Fungi before they reach my class.  They are amazed to learn that outside of the animal kingdom, the fungi are our closest relatives!  The fungi have some amazing characteristics!  We depend on them as decomposers.  Life might cease to exist on Earth if it were not for the fungi breaking down and decomposing dead organisms and returning the chemical elements they possess to the ecosystem to be used in new organisms.

Click picture.

Simply put, there is more to the fungi than just that green mold that invades our pantries and refrigerators!  I have just posted my new "Fungi PowerPoint with Notes for Teacher and Student" to my TpT store.  This product is a 56 slide PowerPoint on the Fungi.  It is accompanied by a set of notes for the teacher, and a notes outline for the student.  Students will fill in their outline as the lesson is being presented.

Topics covered are:

1.   What are the fungi?

2.   Characteristics of fungi.

3.   Fungi are heterotrophs.

4.   Methods of food getting in the fungi.

5.   What environment do they prefer?

6.   The structure of fungi:  hyphae, mycelium, fruiting bodies, spores, rhizoids, stolons.

7.   Label the structures of a typical bread mold.

8.   Reproduction in fungi:  fragmentation, budding, spores production, asexual, and sexual reproduction.

9.   Kinds of fungi:  The four phyla are named and examples given for each phylum.

10.  Life cycle of the common bread mold.

11.  Phylum Zygomycota

12.  Phylum Ascomycota

13.  Phylum Basidiomycota

14.  Phylum Deuteromycota

15.  The Ecology of the Fungi: saprophytes, parasites, decomposition.

16.  Symbiotic relationships of fungi:  mutualism, commensalism, parasitism.

17.  Lichens and Mycorrhizae

I am also just about finished with a new FREE product on this topic, so stayed tuned for that.  I will add it to the list of freebies at the top left of my blog as soon as possible.

Happy Teaching!