What Are Mushrooms? | Botany Basics

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Questions and Prompts for Educators 

Check for Understanding

• What is a mushroom?
• Why were fungi a mystery for so long?

Take It Further

• Mushrooms often pop up when there’s been a lot of rain or the ground is very wet. How might you create the right environmental conditions to grow mushrooms indoors? Design an experiment with variables such as humidity, light, and temperature to test the best conditions for growth indoors.

Create

• Use clay or Play-Doh to create your own mushroom. What does it look like? What is it called? Create a story about your fictional mushroom. Where does it grow? Can you eat it or use it for medicine, or is it poisonous?

Make a Personal Connection

• Describe the types of mushrooms you see in stores or growing in gardens or community spaces. Do you like to eat mushrooms bought from a store? What are your favorite kinds? How do you eat them?

Next Generation Science Standards: Disciplinary Core Ideas