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Biology 11 - Lichen Activity
Name:__________________
Part 1 - Answer the following questions using the
textbook, Biological Science pages 431-432:
1. Where can you find lichens?
2. Describe the "body" of a lichen.
3. Which part of the lichen can live independently?
4. What characteristics make lichens good pioneer organisms?
5. What factor do you think has the greatest impact on lichen
growth?
6. What are reindeer mosses?
7. Give an example of how unexpected materials are passed along a
food chain to a consumer at the top of the chain.
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Part 2 - Lichen Web Site http://mgd.nacse.org/hyperSQL/lichenland/
Click on Lichens - A Friendly Alliance
1. Can all fungi and algae form lichens? Explain?
2. Where does the lichen get it's food?
3. What is the thallus and where does it come from?
4. Draw and label a Foliose Thallus.
5. Can lichens be used to monitor air quality? Explain.
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6. Give three ways lichens are important in the habitat.
7. Give four ways that humans use lichens.
8. Quickly can lichens grow?
Click on LichenLand Main Door
1. Scroll down to Life Form. Click here. What is a rhizine?
2. Scroll down to Reproduction. Click here. What are apothecia?
3. Scroll down to Body Type. Click here. Define and distiguish between
foliose, crustose, and fructicose.
4. Click on Ciliate Margins. What are cilia?
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Part 3 - Lichen handout:
1. Give examples of fructicose, foliose, and crustose lichens found in Kings
County.
2. Describe the colours of various lichens found in the woodlands of Kings
County.
Part 4 - Microscopic Examination of a Lichen Slide:
Observe the lichen slide and sketch and label what you see at 100
magnification. Refer to the LichenLand website and the lichen handout
for assistance.
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Part 5 - Examine a Real Lichen !
1. Obtain a lichen sample and sketch it using the stereomicroscope.
2. Can you identify the body type?
3. Do you see any organisms living in the lichen? If so
describe/identify what you see.