Why fungal biology matters

This teaching pack has been produced to draw attention to the lack of fungal biology in the National Curriculum. We think this is important because questions to year 10 pupils (and many others) reveal their almost complete ignorance of these organisms. Ask an average group of year 10s if they think fungi are bacteria, plants or something different and the vast majority will choose bacteria and the rest plants. The right answer will be rarely, if ever, encountered.

Fungi are not bacteria and they're not plants, either

Because fungi are eukaryotes which have the complex cell structures and abilities to make tissues and organs that we expect of higher organisms. But fungi are not plants, and are so different from plants that no amount of plant biology will give an adequate understanding of any fungus. Similarly, although more closely related, in molecular terms, to animals than to plants, fungi are not animals and a deficiency of fungal biology cannot be compensated by more zoology.

Awareness and understanding of fungi is a worthwhile educational goal, not least because we depend on fungi every day of our lives and fungi form what is arguably the largest kingdom of organisms on the planet. However, it’s probably a more important consideration that the fact that they are practically ignored in the National Curriculum means that pupils are not being introduced to the full range of living things. Teaching biology this way is like trying to teach reading with only two-thirds of the alphabet.

Currently very little of either cell or fungal biology appears in any of the GCSE science specifications. Included in this package is an article that discusses the deficiencies in the curriculum specifications in UK primary and secondary schools in some detail and we will not repeat it here. CLICK HERE to see that article.

The bulk of the material in this package is an assortment of learning resources designed for you to use in your teaching. These ready-made (and classroom-tested) lessons and workshop sessions cover a range of fungal topics from cell structure and function, through biotechnology to health topics and plant growth and disease. The resources are in a number of accessible formats, so the content can be adapted to the needs of individual teachers and pupils, and targeted to different areas of the National Curriculum. They also include games and activities, aiming to increase knowledge and awareness of fungi in an active, entertaining, way and thereby maintain interest in biology as a science.

The British Mycological Society’s materials for the classroom

The materials provided here have been designed for pupils in years 8 to 11 of secondary school. Other years are catered for by other BMS resources. [CLICK HERE to go directly to Key Stage 2-3  resources; CLICK HERE to go to materials suggested for post-16 pupils]. We have tried to use a level of language and presentation that will suit this range of ages and the class sheets have all been well received in classroom tests. However, younger pupils may have a little difficulty with the language, whereas older pupils may need more challenging activities. Teachers can easily adapt the materials (they are available as readily-edited word processor and PowerPoint files) to suit the age, level and capabilities of their own pupils. On the basis of classroom experience we would say that the ability of younger pupils to cope with scientific names and scientific phraseology should not be underestimated. A little help and encouragement (particularly with pronunciation)  soon gets them ‘talking the talk’!

Tried and Tested