Parachute photos © ama and reproduced with the permission of St Faith's school, Cambridge.
The objectives of this activity are:
- to have fun
- to introduce some interesting fungus facts.
This activity is best carried out outside, particularly if there is a large number of children.
You will need: Parachute(s), a whistle.
Making a mushroom fungus quiz game:
With the children standing around the edge of the parachute, pick up the parachute, everybody lift it to waist height. Stretch it tight and walk slowly/quickly around to the left, right etc. ‘Heads shoulders knees and toes’ where everybody moves the parachute to the appropriate height, is fun too.Use the whistle to stop and start the game.
Try making a mushroom. With the parachute on the ground, chant ‘1, 2, 3 mushroom!’ lift the parachute above head height and take the two steps in towards the centre. After taking the two steps in you can try letting go, turning around, and then catching the parachute edge or letting go completely, according to time. Try making a mushroom and then asking questions that the children can answer yes or no to. Those children who answer yes must run across to the other side of the canopy underneath the ‘mushroom’ before it collapses.
Click here to go to Activity 2
Introductory Parachute Game -
Questions and Discussion Points:
- Who has seen a wild mushroom or toadstool growing?
photo © ama
The mushroom that you saw is just one part of the fungus – It is the fungus fruit body and is responsible for making the spores (which are like the seeds of a flowering plant).
- Who has eaten Quorn products?
Quorn is the trade name for a food product (myco-protein) made from the fine threads of a fungus called Fusarium. It is grown in large fermenters.
- Who likes eating chocolate?
Chocolate is made from cocoa beans that grow in pods on the cacao tree. Fungi called yeasts help to break down (ferment) the bean giving the chocolate its flavour.
photo © ama
- Who likes drinking lemonade?
Citric acid made by fungi help to put the fizz in lemonade and other fizzy drinks!
- Who’s seen mouldy bread?
Well you have probably seen a member of the Penicillin family – don’t try and
use it for medical purposes though!
- Who’s taken penicillin medicine – the pink tasty stuff that isn’t Calpol?
Penicillin comes from a fungus that sometimes forms a blue/green crust on old cheese or bread. In 1928, Alexander Fleming discovered that the fungus (called Penicillium) made substances that can kill bacteria and these have been the basis of many antibiotic medicines ever since.
- Whose parents make wine or beer at home?
Alcohol is one of the other main products of a yeast fungus fermenting sugars from cereal grains for beer and grapes for wine.
- Who likes marmite?
Marmite is made from yeast fungus left over from the brewing industry.
- Who likes Cheese?
Most of today’s cheese is made using a fungal extract to solidify the milk.
- Who had toast for breakfast?
Toast is bread and we like our bread light and fluffy. A fungus called yeast is responsible for making this happen.
- Who had milk on their cereals this morning?
Milk comes from cows and the cows have microscopic fungi called chytrids in their stomachs to help them digest all the grass that they eat. Without the fungi to help there would be no milk.
- Who has eaten a mushroom product already today?
This should be everybody who ate a breakfast!