Donna Calder

SAI2
Agriscience Educator Project
Summer 2013
Food, Fiber and Fuel
Grade Level: 6-8
Class Period: Approximate Length of Activity: two 45 minute periods and then continuous as
mushrooms mature.
Common Core Standards
CCR.I5.3 Explain the relationships or interactions between two or more individuals, events,
ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text based on specific information in the
text.
CCR.I.5.9 Integrate information from several texts on the same topic in order to write or speak
about the subject knowledgeably.
CCRST.6-8.3 Follow precisely a multistep procedure when carrying out experiments, taking
measurements, or performing technical tasks.
Illinois State Standards
12. A.3aExplain how cells function as building blocks of organisms and describe the
requirements for cells to live.
13. A.3cExplain what is similar and different about observational and experimental
investigations.
13.B.3e Identify advantages and disadvantages of natural resource conservation and management
programs.
Background Information: The students have studied biodegradable materials. Students
understand that biodegradable materials are broken down and recycled back into the soil.
Students are divided into groups.
Objectives
Teacher
Help students understand the concept of recycling and biodegradable materials.
Show examples of environmental friendly food and the nutritional benefits.
Help students with experiments.
Students
Research the history of mushrooms
Indentify the parts and functions of the mushrooms
Compare and contrast the differences between naturally grown and controlled grow
Understand that the biodegradable products recycle back into the soil
Agricultural products follow measures which are controlled to ensure quality.
Understand the types of food have important nutritional value

Terms
Fungi/ fruit/body/mycelium/spores/chlorophyll/saprophytes/spawn/nomenclature/
metabolizing
Lesson Plan:
1.

Read an expert from Mushrooms Demystified, David Arora

2. Allow students to discuss what they know about mushrooms.

3.

Pass out mushroom facts sheet. Have students work in groups writing information down
answering key questions on Lab Sheet.

4. Have students construct mushroom parts and function sketch.

5. Students will use internet sites that will assist in retrieving information.
6. Students will present what their groups have learned and teacher will write main
information on chart paper for those struggling with assignment.

Day 2 Preparing Spawn

1. Prepare your workspace. Disinfect the area with at least a 10-percent bleach-to-water
solution. Make sure the area can be enclosed either by a door or tarp, and then add the
HEPA filter.
2. Sterilize all of the implements needed for the spawn-production process. Put anything
you cannot buy sterile into polypropylene autoclave bags and sterilize in an autoclave in
small batches. Don't bring anything into your work area until it is sterilized. Everything
that is used during the process needs to be sterile; this includes you, the room, the air and
especially the implements and medium. Follow the instructions for your autoclave;
sterilization generally occurs at above 200 degrees F with about 15 psi of pressure for 45
minutes.
3. Make your spawn. Place a small piece of mushroom on an agar medium in petri dishes,
keep it moistened and under the proper temperatures for that particular mushroom; the
mycelium will grow out and fill the dish in about two weeks. Agar medium is a
gelatinous substance made from seaweed cells that is commonly used in laboratory work.
4. Transfer the mycelium when it has just filled the petri with long, healthy strands. Don't let
the mycelium grow too long in the petri dishes. Transfer the mycelium to the sterilized

grain in jars. Allow it to colonize for about two to four weeks under the proper
temperature for the particular species of mushroom.
5. Observe your jars. When they are filled with healthy, white filaments, you have achieved
grain spawn. Mushrooms will grow right out of the jar of grain spawn, or you can use it
to inoculate more grain. If you repeat the process, one jar of grain spawn can produce up
to ten more.

Food, Fiber, and Fuel Lab Sheet Student Name__________________Period___________

What is a mushroom?

What kingdom do they belong?

Tell about the history of mushrooms.

Draw a sketch of a mushroom names the parts and its functions.

How does a mushroom grow?

Where does it get energy?

Are mushrooms environmentally friendly? If so how?

Are all mushrooms edible?

Do mushrooms have nutritional value?

What differences do mushrooms have growing naturally compared to in a controlled

environment?

Lab Sheet for Experiment

Group Names
Observation of Mushroom Spawn
After following the procedures of producing spawn observe the following with description in
detail.
What does it look like?
_______________________________________________________________________
What does it smell like?
_______________________________________________________________________
What does it feel like?
_______________________________________________________________________
Record Data
Number of days for mushrooms to grow (start date-pick date)
________________________________________________________________________
Temperature of environment during growth (daily with average)
________________________________________________________________________
Measurement of Mushrooms per day
________________________________________________________________________
Is sunlight present?
________________________________________________________________________

How did this experience change your appreciation of agriculture?

______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
In Conclusion, what did you learn from this experience?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Conclusion
Explain: Mushrooms are fungi that can grow naturally or in a controlled environment.
Mushrooms are natural at recycling on earth. They have similar parts of a plant but are in a
classification of their own. Mushrooms have many nutritional benefits. Not all mushrooms are
safe for consumption. Ag-business has many careers within the process.
Further Inquiry Questions/Extensions
1. Have students fill out a journal of the food they eat and items they use and how those
items came from agriculture.
2. Do Mushrooms have Medicinal advantages? Name some and how did they originate?
3. Take a fieldtrip to Monterey Mushrooms.

Resources
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=97
http://www.ehow.com/how_5192330_make-mushroom-spawn.html
http://www.montereymushrooms.com/our-mushrooms/how-they-grow/

Mushrooms Demystified, David Arora

All That the Rain Promises and More..., David Arora