What are fungi?

What are fungi?

Fill in the Blanks

Solve this riddle to discover one of them.

- I am not a plant or an animal.
- I come in many colours and shapes.
- I can feed on plants and animals, dead or alive.
- Sometimes, I can be eaten.
- Other times, I am poisonous.


What am I?

Multiple Select

Mushrooms are not animals. They are plants because they do have chlorophyll to make their own food.

• True

• False

Multiple Select

Fungi cannot move around to look for food like animals. They cannot make their own food like plants. Instead, fungi feed on plants and animals, dead or alive. They break food down into simpler substances that they can absorb.

• True

• Fals

Other examples of fungi are

bracket fungus

yeast

mould

Bracket fungus

Bracket fungus grow on trees and rotting logs. They cause the wood to decompose.

Yeast

Yeast can only be seen under a microscope. It can be found in the air and soil. It feeds on sugars in fruits and vegetables.

Mould

Mould grows on our food and causes it to spoil.

All fungi reproduce from spores

Underneath the cap of a mushroom are the gills.

Between the gills, you will find something that looks like brown dust. These are spores.

Spores are small and light. They can be carried easily by the wind to places far away.

When spores land on places with enough air, water and warmth, they will develop into new fungi.

Multiple Select

Fungi can even grow on our skin.

• True

• False

Multiple Select

We can use fungi to make food and medicine.

For example, yeast is used to make bread.

Penicillin is used to tret infections, is made from the Penicillium fungi.

• True

• False

Not all mushrooms can be consumed because some mushrooms are poisonous.

Edible Mushroom

Grifola frondosa, commonly known as hen-of-the-woods or maitake

Death cap (Amanita phalloides)

Death caps are among the most poisonous of all mushrooms and responsible for the majority of mushroom-related deaths worldwide

For your safety, it’s critical that you only hunt mushrooms if you are experienced in identifying edible varieties.

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/edible-mushrooms#tips