Mushroom Dissection Lab
Name______Date:______/Pd:_____
______
Purpose: To observe the parts of a typical mushroom
Materials:
Mushroom Forceps/Fingers Microscope Slide Dissection Microscope
Paper Towels Lab Sheet Light Microscope
Procedure:
The mushrooms used in today’s lab activity are not clean. You are NOT to taste or eat the mushrooms at any time. This is a lab activity and any behavior that does not comply with the rules will result in a zero.
1.) Answer Prelab questions
2.) Obtain a mushroom. On the back of this sheet, (a) draw a diagram of the mushroom you see. Label the cap, stipe, and gills. (see diagram in data section)
2.) Grasp the cap firmly with one hand and the stipe with the other. Gently wiggle and/or twist the stipe until it breaks away from the cap.
3.) Peel away some strips from the stipe (like string cheese). The thin, hair-like filaments are called hyphae. Put this under the dissection scope. (b) Examine them and describe them in the data section)
4.) Next, look under the cap and observe the gills. (c) Draw what the underside of the cap/gills look like on the data sheet.
5.) Using your finger or forceps, peel away a gill. Make a wet mount slide of the gill and examine it under high power on the compound light microscope. Look for spores. (d) Describe what you see on the data sheet
6.) After you are done, clean off your slide and place it back in the box where you found it. Throw mushroom pieces away and properly put away microscopes.
7.) Answer Post Lab Questions
Names: ______/ ______Date:_____/Period___
Data Sheet – Fungi Lab
Prelab Questions:
Mushrooms are in the Club Fungi group in the Fungi Kingdom. Club Fungi are the most common of the Fungi and are umbrella like in shape. (Use your book)
1. What is the club like structure of the mushroom called?
2. When mushrooms make a large circle in your yard, what is it called?
3. Some basidia develop grooves under the cap of the mushroom, what are these called and what do some hold?
Diagram: A
Diagram: B Microscopic Observation of Living Fungi
Dissection Scope
Specimen Sketch / Sketch - hyphaeWhole Mushroom / Low / High
Stipe
Diagram: C - Fungal Growth and Structure
Compound Light Microscope
Specimen - Underside / Gill Sketch – High PowerObservations:
Questions:
1.) What phylum does the mushroom Agaricus that you just looked at probably belong to?
2.) How do fungi reproduce?
3.) Where are the roots of the mushroom?
4.) Were you able to observe all the parts of the mushroom? (cap, stalk, gills, spores, mycelium, hyphae)
5.) What are the hyphae?