Science 7
Unit 3
Living Things
Name: ______________________________
Date: ______________ Period: __________
Fungi
Kingdom – Fungi
Phylum – Mycophyta
Mushrooms and molds are examples of fungi. Most fungi are multicellular organisms. The cells of fungi have
cell walls like those of plants, yet fungi do not contain chlorophyll. Therefore, they cannot make their own food, they get
food by absorbing it from their environment. Some are parasites, but most are saprophytes or decomposers, feeding off
dead organisms. Fungi are very destructive. They are the most significant cause of plant disease such as wheat rust, corn
smut, and chestnut blight.
Yeast is a fungus that is helpful to us. Yeast are single-celled fungi. They are oval in shape. In the absence of
oxygen, they release energy by fermentation. In this process yeast cells break down sugar. The products of this are carbon
dioxide gas and alcohol The gas makes bread dough rise and the alcohol is evaporated during baking. Yeasts that ferment
sugar in grapes produce the alcohol in wine.
You may have seen one kind of fungus growing on bread. This fungus is bread mold or Rhizopus. Aspergillus
and Penicillum are other beneficial types of molds.
A fungi body structure is well suited for taking in food from wherever they grow. The bodies of molds consist of
threadlike structures called hyphae. Hyphae are like long tubes. Special rootlike hyphae attach the mold to a surface
anywhere it can obtain food. They grow into the food and release enzymes. The enzymes digest the food outside of the
mold’s body then the hyphae absorb the digested food along with water. As the hyphae grow they form a tangled mass
called a mycelium. The mycelium makes up the body of the fungus except for the spores. A spore is a cell that can
develop into a new organism (like a seed, only it’s just one cell).
When a spore case opens, the spores are released into the air. If they land in favorable surroundings they may
grow and develop hyphae. In time the hyphae will develop into a new mycelium. Reproduction by spores is a form of
asexual reproduction, since only one parent is needed.
Mushrooms are probably the most familiar types of fungus. They grow in damp dark places. Like molds, the
body of a mushroom is largely mycelium. A mushroom has parts above and below ground. Below ground are the rootlike
hyphae that obtain food the same way a bread mold does.
The part of the mushroom above ground is used for reproduction. The umbrella shaped cap at the top of the stalk
has many gills on the underside. Each gill contains thousands of hyphae that produce spores. A single mushroom can
produce billions of spores in just a few days. Mushrooms grow very quickly. Many may ‘pop up’ on your lawn in the
morning after a rain where none where the day before.
Lichens grow on rocks, soil and the stems of trees. Although lichens are included in the kingdom Fungi, they are
actually two organisms. Lichens are a symbiotic relation between a fungus and green algae. The algae makes the food, the
fungus provides the water and minerals. It keeps the algae from drying out. Lichens are an important food source for
animals and they also act as decomposers.
Label the parts of the mushroom.
1. What is the phylum name for mushrooms? __________________________________
2. What is a saprophyte? _________________________________________________________________
3. How do mushrooms and molds reproduce? ________________________________________________
4. Name two beneficial types of molds? _________________________ and ________________________
5. What are hyphae? ____________________________________________________________________
6. What is a mycelium? __________________________________________________________________
7. Which part of a mushroom do we eat? ____________________________________________________
8. How does yeast make bread rise? ________________________________________________________
9. What is a lichen? _____________________________________________________________________
10. Which of the following is not a result of fungus destruction?
a. Corn smut
b. Wheat rust
c. Chestnut blight
d. Irish Potato Famine
c. Reproduction
d. Photosynthesis
c. Humans
d. Seeds
11. The gills of a mushroom are used for
a. Breathing
b. Decomposing
12. Which is the result of asexual reproduction?
a. Apples
b. Spores
13. Fungi are decomposers.
TRUE or FALSE
14. Lichens are a parasitic relationship. TRUE or FALSE