NAMA Mushroom Teaching Kits

NAMA has prepared two Mushroom Teaching Kits, available for rental. The Kits provide materials for teaching about fungi, for teachers, naturalists, mushroom clubs, nature organizations, libraries and science museums, as well as for displays at mushroom and garden fairs.

The Eastern Mushroom Teaching Kit contains material suitable for the United States, east of the Mississippi, and eastern Canada. The Western Mushroom Teaching Kit contains material suitable for the western States and the western part of Canada. The contents of the Kits are similar, with a geographical variation in the photos, dried fungal samples and spore prints, and some instructional materials.

• A. The basic information necessary to teach grades K-8 about fungi. The information is divided into grades K-3 and 4-8. A 45 minute lesson plan is provided for the classroom teacher, including handouts of questions and answers for both K-3 and 4-8 students, which can be copied. Handouts for further activities, both indoors and outdoors, can be copied as well. Most of the material can also be used successfully in High School classes and in College entry level courses in mycology and ecology.
• B. Media, books and instructional materials.
• C. Hands-on classroom aids
• D. Activity ideas which include scientific, artistic, and cultural approaches.

CONTENTS OF THE EASTERN MUSHROOM TEACHING KIT

• A: Media: (See also "Instructional Materials")
  • 1. DVDs: "The Mushroom Identification Trilogy" and "Treasures from the Kingdom of Fungi" - Taylor Lockwood
  • 2. CD: "MykoCD" - Mike Wood
  • 3. Videocassette: "Slime Molds" and Teachers Guide - Iowa State Univ.
  • 4. 18 laminated spore prints
  • 5. 25 plastic hand lenses
  • 6. 13 dried fungi samples
  • 7. Foam blocks and skewers to mount fresh specimens in the classroom
  • 8. "Foldable magnifier" (110 diameter, 2x magnification)
  • 9. Mushroom Dye Chart, Little Wool Gnome and Skeins to Illustrate Dyeing with Mushrooms - Sue Hopkins
• B: Books:
  • 1. Mushrooms for Color (Rice)
  • 2. Mushrooms of the World Coloring Book (Arora, Bowers)
  • 3. Mushrooms for Paper (Rice)
  • 4. A Young Person's Guide to the Fungi (Kendrick)
  • 5. A New Home for "L'il Gnome" (Parker)
  • 6. Katya's Book of Mushrooms (Arnold, Swope)
  • 7. North American Mushroom Photo Postcards (Johnson)
  • 8. Fungi (Watling)
  • 9. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms (Lincoff)
  • 10. The Fungus that Ate My School (Dorros)
• C: Instructional Materials:
  • 1. Illustrations of fungi on 4"x5" poster board
  • 2. "North Carolina Notebook", 2 laminated sheets (Wildlife in North Carolina, Nov. 2000)
  • 3. Lesson ideas and activities relating to fungi for grades K-12 (NAMA website)
  • 4. 9 overhead transparencies illustrating How Mushrooms Grow, the Variety of Shapes and Spore Bearing Surfaces and Fungal Ecology (Louise Freedman)
  • 5. 3 posters on careers in mycology (Mycological Society of America)
  • 4. Poster on Mushroom Poisonings and their medical treatment (Scates)
  • 5. 26 slides, or same photos on CD, as requested
  • 6. Fungi teaching materials - Sundberg
  • 7. "Easy Key to Common Mushrooms" (Scates)

CONTENTS OF THE WESTERN MUSHROOM TEACHING KIT

• A: Media: (See also "Instructional Materials")
  • 1. Audiotape cassette & script: "Latin Pronunciation of Mushroom Names"
  • 2. DVD: "The Mushroom Identification Trilogy" -- Taylor F. Lockwood
  • 3. CD: "MykoCD" -- Mike Wood
  • 4. Videocassette: "Slime Molds" and Teachers Guide (State U. of Iowa)
  • 5. Box & Folder: "The Polypore Box" and Polypore Descriptions
  • 6. Folder: "Dye Mushrooms" -- Three display cards
  • 7. CD cases: Three mushroom spore prints in CD cases
  • 8. CD Cases (2 empty), skewers, Field Identification Slips, Spore Print (b/w) paper
  • 9. Hand lenses -- 25 magnifying lenses in plastic cases
  • 10. Box: "Foldable Magnifier" (110 Diameter, 2x magnification)
  • 11. Microscope + CD + Instr. Bklt: "Intel Cx3+ Computer Microscope"
• B. Books:
  • 1. All That the Rain Promises, and More (Arora)
  • 2. The Romance of the Fungus World (Rolfe & Rolfe)
  • 3. Guide to Western Mushrooms (Underhill)
  • 4. Mushrooms for Color (Rice)
  • 5. Fungi (Watling)
  • 6. Mushrooms and Other Fungi of Land Between the Lakes (Tenn. Valley Authority)
  • 7. Mushroom, the Journal of Wild Mushrooming (Issue 37, Fall 2005)
  • 8. Mushrooms of the World Coloring Book (Arora, Bowers)
  • 9. A Young Person's Guide to the Fungi (Kendrick)
  • 10. Katya's Book of Mushrooms (Arnold & Swope)
  • 11. The Mushroom That Ate My School (Dorros)
• C. Instructional Materials:
  • 1. Notebook: "Ideas for Class Activities Related to Mushrooms" containing:
    • Posters: "What Can You Do with Training in Mycology?" (2) (MSA)
    • Slides & List of Fungus Names, 3 folders:
      • 1. Gilled & Fleshy Pored Basidiomycetes
      • 2. Non-gilled Basidiomycetes
      • 3. Ascomycetes
      • 40 Slides, or same photos on CD, as requested
    • List: "A Few Websites -- Can You Add More?"
    • Article and colored prints: "Mushroom Spore Printing"
    • Transparencies: "Some Edible Mushrooms" (2 transparencies)
    • Transparencies with Teachers' Guide Sheets: "How Mushrooms Grow" (9 each -- Dr. Walt Sundberg)
    • Journal articles: "A Few Mycorrhizal Factoids" and "Mycorrhizas, the Source of All That Is Good?" (Dr. Steve Trudell)
    • Transparencies: "Herb & Tree Associates for Many Fungi" (4)
    • Transparencies: "How Mushrooms Grow" (9) (Louise Freedman)
    • Miscellaneous Additional Instructional Study Sheets and Guides
  • 2. Notebook: NAMA Educational Programs from the NAMA Website:
    • 32 plastic folders of Teachers' Instructional Materials (see Table of Contents for list in second plastic folder)
    • Articles: "Fine Paper from Mushrooms" (Rice)
  • 3. Instructional units:
    • ÒMold Control and Environmental HealthÓ (EHSC Community Outreach & Education Program, Oregon State University, Corvallis)

SO YOU'D LIKE TO RENT A NAMA MUSHROOM TEACHING KIT:

The rental fee for borrowing either of these programs:
For NAMA members: $40.00
For non-members: $50.00
Return postage and insurance for $150.00, ground service, SIGNATURE REQUIRED, UPS, FedEx, or USPS, will be paid by the renter.

A request* for renting the program for 7-10 days, together with a check or money order, made out to NORTH AMERICAN MYCOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION, can be sent to:

* Requests should include a description of the targeted audience and geographic area so appropriate material can be sent in the Kit.

If you have materials you think would be useful to teachers, and would like us to consider adding them to the Kits, please contact Carol Dreiling, caroldrei@aol.com, Maggie Rogers, rogersmm@aol.com, or Sandy Sheine, ssheine@aol.com, and plan to send a sample of your materials.

For more information on NAMA Education programs, check the NAMA website: www.namyco.org

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to the NAMA members who have contributed to the contents of the Kits: Dean Abel, Carol Dreiling, Louise and Bill Freedman, Catharine Gunderson, Susan Hopkins, Emily Johnson, Jean-Paul Latil, Taylor Lockwood, Theresa Oursler, Nancy Parker, Samuel Ristich, Maggie Rogers, Sandy Sheine, Allein Stanley, Caryl Widderson, Walt Sundberg, Mike Wood

If you would like to add items to the Mushroom Teaching Kits, please send them to Carol Dreiling or Catharine Gunderson. We would like objects such as dried fungi, spore prints, books, videos, and other teaching materials.