May. 9, 2008

Toadstool School ~ a.k.a. Mushroom Study

Posted in Nature Study

Update on Spore Prints!  5/10/08 - They are so cool!  Those are thousands of tiny spore particles that the mushroom shed from their gills overnight!  We did spray them with a clear polyurethane and that worked quite well too.  You can rub right over them and they are preserved.  We are adding them to our nature journals.

 

 

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 Original Post:

Once again, God's creation allured us into study.  After two days of rainy, wet and cool weather, the mushrooms have made their grand appearance in and about and all around the outside of our house.  This morning, my son exclaimed "Cool, look at all the musrooms!"   And so toadstool school commenced.  This photo is just a small portion of them in our landscaping.

 

 

We found them around and under rocks, around and under the drain pipe, and playing "peek-a-boo" from under the concrete by our front porch.

 

 

It was simply amazing how many there were.  I think they are so neat looking.

 

 

So of course we were obliged to slip on our gardening gloves and gather a handful for study!

 

 

The Handbook of Nature Study has an absolutely wonderful and full of great information section on mushrooms.  We learned folklore about mushrooms:  toads love to sit on them (toadstools) which of course was very fitting for our up and coming toads, and that fairies use them as umbrellas.  While observing them, we learned the different shapes and types of mushrooms and identified these as convex, we learned the different parts of mushrooms from the cap to the gills to the stem and to the Mycelium (roots).  We learned that spores, which mushrooms produce by dropping out of their gills, are like their "seeds" which are carried away on the wind to create new mushrooms.

 

 

We saw that some of them had a filmy white covering over the gills.  And got a giggle out of this family of five, just like us!

 

 

Then the kids first choose out a special one they would use for journaling, and then the fun part that my son just could barely wait for.....dissection!

 

 

We took some and split them right down the middle to observe.

 

 

Then we set about to try a really neat project of making Spore Prints.  We took two flatter looking mushrooms (ones that the gills were nice and flat), cut the stems off, and placed them on pieces of white cardstock.

 

 

We covered them with bowls and set them on our nature table to sit overnight.

 

 

If all goes well, in the morning we should have nice little spore prints from where the mushrooms have deposited them on the paper.  You would normally need a compound microscope to see most spore features but spore color can be seen by the naked eye with the help of a spore print!  If they turn out well, I read somewhere that you could take a clear polyurethane spray to preserve them for your journals.  If they work well, I will add a photo to this post in the morning.  Oh, and we found two more mushrooms in our back yard that were a different kind, plane shaped, so we cut the stems from them and added them to our spore sheet too.

 

 

And last but not least a Plant Journal page was filled out, noting the size, parts and characteristics of the mushroom.

  

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Helpful Websites:

What is a Mushroom?

Mushroom Identification

Mushroom Diagram

 

We also finished up our Clouds Unit Study today!  I'll hopefully be able to pull that final post together for this weekend.

 

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Comments

May. 10, 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by jiffy11
This looks like a fun study. I hope the spore imprints come out...you've got my interest now.
Jennifer
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May. 10, 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by Shannon
Neat toadstools! My kids get so excited when they find mushrooms in our backyard. We'll have to try making spore prints too.
Thanks so much for the "Taking note of birds" form. In fact, thanks for sharing all of your wonderful forms and unit studies! I can't wait to check all of them out.
Blessings,
Shannon
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May. 10, 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by Honeybee
I've never seen one in our yard! It may be because we don't have many trees? (no shade?) Anyhoo...thanks for YOUR notes! It was nice to get an "expert" opinion on our coo-coo bird! :)

Melissa
http://livinglifebetweenthetrees.blogspot.com
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May. 10, 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by homeschoolingmy2
Interesting!! We'll have to keep our eyes out for mushroom when we're out and about. I want to make spore prints too! :)
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May. 10, 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by Dana @ School For Us
I love it! I've been meaning to do a spore print, but we have only been seeing puff balls in our yards - they're quite different. I'll be on the lookout now that I've seen yours, though. And, thanks for the links, too!
Dana, www.alexml.blogspot.com
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May. 10, 2008 - Very cool nature art

Posted by MusingMom
That mushroom spore print came out fabulous! I'll be off to get some polyurethane spray so we can try this. Yes, my boys love the dissection part the best, too, LOL!
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Nov. 7, 2008 - 2 comments

Posted by Lisa @ hopewell
1. LOVE the science journal pages! We will definitely use them.
2. If our newest mushrooms are still there we're going to do some of these spore prints. You have a lot of good projects!

Lisa @ http://hopewellmomschoolreborn.blogspot.com/
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My name is Melissa and I am a homeschool mom of three beautiful blessings ages 12, 10, and 4; and blessed wife to my husband for 16 years. We use Charlotte Mason's educational philosophies of learning the natural, everyday hands-on life way. We especially enjoy learning and growing together beyond the classroom doors in God's amazing creation in nature. Photobucket

"Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young - a place near your altar, O Lord Almighty, my King and my God." ~Psalm 84:3-4


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