Mushrooms: focus on variety

Key info:
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This lesson plan is designed to help children, aged 7-11 years, understand about the different varieties of mushrooms through fun activities and games. It teaches them to identify types of mushrooms and learn about where they come from. It relates to the curriculum in your country by meeting certain learning outcomes. Downloadable materials to support the lesson plan include images and explanations of different types of mushrooms, names and images of mushrooms for kids to match up and a mushroom fact sheet.

Activities

Reasoning
The children could work either in groups or as individuals. This could be set up as a competitive activity between groups or as a stand-alone activity. Read out the description of one of the mushrooms and get the children to try to identify which mushroom is being described. This could be done as a series of clues: the quicker the children can correctly identify the mushroom, the more points they are awarded. Have labelled pictures of the mushrooms available so that the children can try to apply reasoning and work out from the picture which mushroom is being described.

Where does it come from? 
Using the information provided, the children could become mushroom detectives and identify on a world map all the countries of origin of the different types. Using books or the internet, the children could research the country of origin for themselves, or they could use the fact sheets and work out the country of origin from the information on it.

What’s in a name? 
Encourage the children to look at all the names of the mushrooms and think about them. Some of them describe the appearance of the mushroom (white, oyster, wood ear) while others are more obscure. If the children had discovered one of these
mushrooms, what name would they give to the mushroom and why?

Ask the children to write a short article for a newspaper or magazine, imagining that they have found a new
species of mushroom and have named it. They should
give a reasoned explanation of why they gave it the
name they chose. It could be to do with where they found it growing, or what it looked like, or even the date when they found it. Remind them that it needs to be a name that is easy to remember as the mushroom is going to be sold and will need to have its name on the packaging.

 

Download supporting materials for this lesson plan on mushroom varieties

Supporting downloadable materials are:

Curriculum

England

Spoken language

  • Listen and respond appropriately to adults and their peers.
  • Ask relevant questions to extend their understanding and knowledge.
  • Use relevant strategies to build their vocabulary.

Word reading

  • Apply their growing knowledge of root words, prefixes and suffixes, both to read aloud and to understand the meaning of new words they meet.
  • Read further exception words, noting the unusual correspondences between spelling and sound, and where these occur in the word.

Writing - composition

  • Plan their writing by discussing and recording ideas.
  • Read aloud their own writing to a group or the whole class.
  • Note and develop initial ideas, drawing on reading and research where necessary.

Reading - comprehension

  • Retrieve, record and present information from non-fiction.

Geography

  • Locate the world’s countries.
Scotland

Spoken language

  • Show [their] understanding of what [they] listen to or watch by responding to and asking different kinds of questions.

Word reading

  • Use [their] knowledge of sight vocabulary [and] phonics.

Writing - composition

  • By considering the type of text [they are] creating, [they] can select ideas and relevant information, organise these in a logical sequence and use words which will be interesting and/or useful for others.

Reading - comprehension

  • Find, select, sort and use information for a specific purpose; [use] other types of writing to help [them] understand information and ideas, explore problems, generate and develop ideas or create new text.
Wales

Spoken language

  • Listen and view attentively, responding to a wide range of communication.

Word reading

  • [Develop] word recognition and contextual understanding within a balanced and coherent programme.

Writing - composition

  • Use the characteristic features of literary and non-literary texts in their own writing, adapting their style to suit the audience and purpose; choose and use appropriate vocabulary.

Reading - comprehension

  • Consider what they read/view, responding orally and in writing to the ideas, vocabulary, style, presentation and organisation of image and language, and be able to select evidence to support their views.
Northern Ireland

Spoken language

  • Participate in group and class discussions for a variety of curricular purposes; formulate, give and respond to guidance, directions and instructions.

Word reading

  • Use a variety of reading skills for different reading purposes.

Writing - composition

  • Express thoughts, feelings and opinions in imaginative and factual writing; begin to formulate their own personal style.

Reading - comprehension

  • Use traditional and digital sources to locate, select, evaluate and communicate information relevant for a particular task.
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