Talking and Doing Science in the Early Years by Dale Tunnicliffe Sue;

Author:Dale Tunnicliffe, Sue;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Group

7.1 Spore prints of a fungus. A mushroom.

Fungi – harmful and helpful to humans

Many fungi cause disease to other organisms; ringworm and athletes foot are common examples. On the other hand, some fungi are very useful to humans. Yeasts are used in cooking, such as bakers’ yeast in bread making, where the yeast’s reaction produces the carbon dioxide that makes the dough rise. Yeast is crucial in the fermentation process to produce alcohol, which is used making drinks such as beer.

Fungi are used in making some human foods, particularly cheese. You can see the fungi if you look at blue cheeses. Camembert and Roquefort cheeses are made with two different types of penicillin fungi, as is Stilton. Fermenting soybeans with a type of fungus called Aspergillus oryzae produces soy sauce.

Animals that eat grass, such as cows, are called ruminants and have four chambered stomachs, each with a different function. The gut of cows contains bacteria, fungi and proteins, which can break down the cellulose and digests the grass, thus providing the animal with nutrients.

Some fungi help humans and other animals in fighting disease. Penicillin and other fungi were found to destroy bacteria and are used in the fight against diseases caused by bacteria. Such products are called antibiotics. The blue mould on some foods is a penicillin fungus. There are other fungi that are used as food for humans. Some people in autumn go on fungi forays to collect wild mushrooms, but this is not advisable as many are poisonous and it is better to buy mushrooms in a store. Some fungi are used recreationally because of the effect they have on humans. Fly Agaric, the toadstool often shown in pictures in fairy stories, bright red with white spots, is poisonous. It is found in areas with acid soils, associated with silver birch trees.

Fungi and algae work together – indicators of direction and pollution

Green algae may be seen as green patches on walls and the north-facing sides of tree trunks. Other kinds of algae, filamentous ones, form blanket weed in some ponds. Lichens appear in places with unpolluted air. Some logs, trees and other things (my canvas swinging garden seat for example) may have silvery-green shapes on them; this is probably lichen. Sometimes on buildings or elsewhere there are green circular patches or orange ones of lichens, the combinations of an algae and a fungus.

Animals and plants

The other kingdoms of living things are the animals and plants. Mosses, ferns, flowering and non-flowering plants are made up of many cells with the nucleus in a membrane and do not have their own locomotory mechanism. These living things obtain their food needs through photosynthesis. This is the process of capturing the energy of the sun and using it to combine chemicals to form sugars. These plants also use minerals, which they absorb from the substance in which they live, usually soil. The animal kingdom members are also multicellular, with the eukaryotic cell that in plants is specialized for many functions. Animals have to obtain their food ready made and take it into their bodies.

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