In this activity, students create a spore print from a mushroom. Individual fungal spores are microscopic and cannot be seen with the human eye, but spore prints allow students to visualise spores.
This activity also provides students with the opportunity to choose a question they have regarding spore prints and to design an investigation to answer their question.
Portobello mushroom spore print
Make a spore print by placing a mushroom gill-side down, covering it with a bowl and leaving it overnight. Mature mushrooms should drop their spores, leaving a print.
By the end of this activity, students should be able to:
follow instructions to create a spore print
consider why the print activity did or did not work
gain experience in phrasing a question that can be answered with a simple investigation
gain experience in designing and carrying out a simple investigation.
Equipment required includes
mushrooms (one or more varieties)
white and black paper
knife
ice cream containers or similar
magnifying devices (hand lenses, digital microscope or camera).
Download the Word file (see link below).
Acknowledgement
This resource has been adapted from Ngā Hekaheka o Aotearoa, a science/pūtaiao guide for teachers written by Dr Peter Buchanan, Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research; Dr Georgina Stewart, Te Kura Mātauranga School of Education, AUT University; and Hēni Jacob. These resources have been written from a Māori world view.
The Science Learning Hub would like to acknowledge Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research and the writers for their permission and help to adapt this publication for the web. An electronic version of this teacher guidebook is available to download from Huia Publishers.
