Mushroom Walk (Led by Kristian)

Kristian, our community's resident mushroom guru and former forest service employee, took the second graders and the high school students on a mushroom walk today.

September 9th-11th: Mushrooms, Yeast, Bug Traps, and Trees

"Observing expands your world; the more you see, hear, feel smell and taste, the more you will understand. You become attuned to the context of objects you previously thought of as isolated; you find they are connected to other objects and events."- Claire Walker Leslie, author of Keeping a Nature Journal

Observing animal behavior

Mule deer on the playground

Monday, September 9:

mushroom walk, sorting mushrooms, and making spore prints

Sources: The Fungus Files: An Educator's Guide (source: the North American Mycological Institute)

Grade Level: Elementary

Objective: Students will begin to learn about mushrooms/fungi/decomposers through guided exploration of their environment.

Materials: Fungus Files handouts, National Audubon Society Familiar Mushrooms Pocket Guide, Mushrooms of North America, an assortment of preselected wild mushrooms, construction paper, cups

Class introduction/hook: Mary Oliver poem (Mushrooms), mushroom walk