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Fungi Kingdom

Fungi

Fungi are heterotrophic organisms with eukaryotic cells. Some fungi, as yeast, are single-cell while mushrooms and moulds are multicellular.
SINGLE-CELL MULTICELLULAR
Yeast: They are single cell fungi. When they obtain nutrients, they produce alcohol, this is called fermentation. Fermentation is a process we use to make beberages or bread. Most yeast reproduce asexually through budding, others through binary fission.
Mould: They are multicellular organisms which live in the air. They are larger than yeast and they don't have the visible structure of mushrooms. When they land on a host, they feed on them helped by a moist environment. They reproduce by releasing spores which travel through the air or water. 		Mushrooms: They are multicellular fungi. Underground there are a lot of filaments called hyphae that conform a mass called mycelium. The fruit of that mycelium is the mushroom which grows above the ground. Mushrooms reproduce through spores. They don't need light to make energy for themselves.
yeast
Saccharomyces cerevisiae (beer yeast) cells in DIC microscopy. Masur. Wikimedia. (Public Domain)
Mould
Blue mould growth. Brad Smith. Flickr (CC-BY-NC)
Mushroom
Mushroom. Yolanda Varela.  (CC-BY-NC-SA)
There are three types of fungi depending on how they get their nutrients:

SAPROPHYTES

They obtain their food from the rests of other living beings.

PARASITES

They obtain nutrients from living organisms, which causes diseases in these living organisms.

SYMBIOTIC

They obtain their food other organisms and provide some benefit in return.

Activity 1

1. Complete with the missing letters.
Question mark
Did you know that in 1920 a British scientist called Alexander Fleming discovered that a type of mould called Penicilium notatum killed germs that attacked humans? Later a drug called penicillin was developed from that mould.

1. F NGI            
2. F R E TAT ON
3. M CE UM
 4. MO L
5. H P AE
6. P RA IT S  
7. S M IOT C
8. SAP OP IT S 9. Y A T

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Activity 2

2. Listen and choose the words.
arrow right arrow right
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Activity 3

2. Mark with an X the correct option to make true sentences.
1. Yeasts are... ...single-cell organisms. ...multicellular organisms.
2. Parasite fungi obtain their nutrients from... ....rests of other organisms.
 ...other living organisms.
3. A couple of organisms that help each other to obtain food perform... ...saprophyte nutrition. ...symbiotic nutrition.
4. Penicillin comes from... ...yeast. ...mould.
5. Mycelium is a mass of hyphae that lives underground.
 True False
6. Mushrooms reproduce through spores. True False
7. Fungi are... ...heterotrophic. ... autotrophic.

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Extra activity

Watch this video about the life cycle of a mushroom and answer the questions in your notebook. Then read your answers aloud for the rest of students so that they can agree or disagree with them.

Mushroom life cycle. Mrs Steward Science. YouTube. (YouTube Standad Licence)

a. What is underneath the cap and why is it important?

b. What contains the genetic material of the mushrooms?

c. How does the wind help mushrooms?

d. What conditions does a mushroom need to grow?

Lourizan Forestry Research Centre

Read the text and then decide if the statements below are true (T) or false (F).
The Centre, located three km from Pontevedra, occupies a 52 hectares estate where there are laboratories, greenhouses, forestry research areas and even a 19th century manor house.
 
All through its history the scientists in the centre have successfully worked on issues such as the improvement of pasture species and forest fertilizer tablets, the identification of new botanical species, the obtaining of chestnut trees resistant to diseases, the development of treatment against plagues and new techniques to evaluate fire damage and restore burned areas, etc.
 
 Nowadays there are three departments in the centre, Department of Forest Protection, Department of Forest Ecosystem, Department of Silviculture and Improvement and they all share the same goals: quality water availability, natural resources preservation and resistance of forest ecosystems to fires, climate changes, plagues, etc. They also try to maintain close relations with other research centres and with local forest owners associations.

Centro de iInvestigación Forestal de Lourizán. AGACAL. YouTube.(YouTube Standard Licence)
1. Lourizan Forestry Research Centre is in Galicia.  2. Scientists in the centre have worked in coconut trees.
3. Scientists in the centre have always worked with birds.

4. The three departments in the centre have different objectives.

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Projects

PROJECT 1 PROJECT 2 PROJECT 3

How yeast works in bread. Suzanna Z. YouTube. (YouTube Standard Licence)

Can you follow the steps in this video and perform an experiment like this? Don't forget to follow all the steps in the scientific method.

Grow your own mould. HooplaKidzlab. YouTube. (YouTube Standard Licence)

Let's see if we can grow mould after watching this video. Don't forget to follow all the steps in the scientific method.

With the help of your teacher organize a walk in the forest to collect or simply take photos of mushrooms. Then gather them in an exhibition for the rest of students with a factsheet of any of the mushrooms you have found.

Always follow you teacher's instructions while doing this activity.