Taxonomy and the Fungi Kingdom- Part 3

Of all the genera in the Fungus kingdom, perhaps none is more beloved than Saccharmyces Cerevisiae, otherwise known as baker's yeast. Today, the Children's House was filled with the enticing fragrance of freshly baked bread as the children continued their study of Fungi by learning about the magic of yeast and by producing lovely white whole wheat boules.

I have always loved things that have a personal history (my wedding ring is an estate piece, my favorite seeds were saved by relatives or come with interesting anecdotes about the people who developed them or transported them to North America, and my favorite variety of coffee was stolen from a Paris garden and smuggled to Brazil in bouquet given to a young man by his lover). So, you can imagine how enamored I am with our first class "pet."

The children have begun caring for our own yeast colony- this Sourdough Starter (a piece of dough in which the yeast is continually reproducing thanks to being "fed" a daily ration of flour- this is responsible for the distinctive flavor of sourdough bread) that we purchased from King Arthur Flour Company (one of our favorite companies and the best flour you can buy!). This sourdough is descended from a starter that has been lovingly nurtured in New England since the 1700s.

Sourdough starter is undoubtedly the perfect first pet- low maintenance, quiet, and it smells good! However, it does need to be fed and watered daily (a chore that the children love to perform!). One of the things I really like about incorporating this into a unit on Fungi is that it helps the children to really appreciate that Fungi is alive and to understand one of the principle differences between Fungi and Plants (which can be difficult for them to grasp- many students intially guess that mushrooms are plants)- Fungi are unable to produce their own food and must obtain their nutrients by absorbing them from other sources.

In order to help the children fully appreciate the many virtues of our new class pet, I convinced the best bread baker I know, my husband, to take a day off of work and teach the children to make artisan boules. The children were very excited to learn that the holes in bread were the result of carbon dioxide bubbles released (burped!)by the yeast as they consumed (gobbled!) the sugar in the flour.

After two hours of rising, the dough was ready to be turned (kneaded). While some were initially apprehensive about the stickiness of the dough, by the end, everyone was happy to help (and some couldn't help but take a premature taste).

By nap time, we had nine perfectly shaped mini boules.


The children were awakened from nap with a bright, sunny afternoon and the enticing aroma of freshly baked bread. They excitedly enjoyed their special treat of warm bread at a table strewn with crumbs. Then, as the perfect conculsion to a fun day, they took home their own little boule to enjoy with their family over dinner.

Bon Appetit! (and, thanks Josh!)

Taxonomy and the Fungi Kingdom- Part 2

Our unit on Fungi continued this week with Mushroom Slicing, a twist on a classic Montessori Practical Life exercise. The children enjoyed carefully cleaning and slicing fresh Button Mushroom caps.

Later, the children enjoyed a special treat of Spinach and Maitake Mushroom wontons prepared by my assistant, Katie. One boy reported that they "taste like chicken," an idiom I had not expected from a two year old. Without exception, every child took a second helping and begged for more.

Many of the children chose to use the independent work period to reinforce their learning about Fungi by re-reading the Fungi books in the reading corner and matching different types of Fungi with the 3 Part Cards.
Their interest in Fungi even spilled over to outside play time. One boy came running toward me yelling excitedly, "Fungi, teacher! There's Fungi!" I followed him to find lichens growing on some of the trees and rocks in the yard. How lucky!

Taxonomy and the Fungi Kingdom

"Out of damp and gloomy days, out of solitude, out of loveless words directed at us, conclusions grow up in us like fungus; one morning, there they are, we know not how, and they gaze upon us morose and gray. Woe to the thinker who is not the gardener but only the soil of the plants that grow in him."

Friedrich Nietzsche

Young children are sensorial explorers and science appeals to their natural curiosity about the environment. In the Primary (3-6) Montessori cycle, children begin by learning to distinguish between things which are living and things which are non-living and discussing the characteristics of living things (not a simple feat for children who are in a period of cognitive development defined by animism and magical thinking). Subsequently, children learn to classify living things according to their biological taxonomy. We begin our study with the five Kingdoms.

This week, while we await reliably good weather to begin our study of plants, the children began a unit on Fungi. Fungi are fundamentally important to life on Earth because of their ability to decompose complex organic biomolecules and recycle plants after they die. In fact, if not for fungi, the Earth would be buried in several feet of debris and life on the planet would disappear!

Montessori strongly believed that all studies for children this age should begin with a concrete experience and that "nothing is in the intellect which was not first in the senses." As a result, we began our study of Fungi with a hands-on examination of twelve varities of beautiful, organic, exotic mushrooms. The children learned about the lifecycle of mushrooms and learned to identify the basic parts of mushrooms. It was amazing to watch how carefully the children handled them and how thoroughly they investigated and observed them (inhaling their earthy fragrance, delicately running their fingers over their velvety gills, and excitedly remarking about the diversity of colors and textures).

After completing the group activity, many of our mini-mycologists chose to continue the activity by matching mushrooms to corresponding matching cards and examining the specimens with magnifying glasses.

The children also began learning about the lifecycle of mushrooms by planting their own self-contained garden of Enokitake mushrooms. Although there are many different mushroom kits available, I particularly love this one because it is translucent; already, the children are able to see the mycelium (cobweb-like threads which are the "plant" from which the mushrooms will grow). The children seemed very excited!

Finally, the children celebrated the culinary virtues of fungi, by making and enjoying a special snack of mushroom risotto. There were more than a few fans of the earthy flavors in this classic comfort food!

Over the coming weeks, the children will continue their unit on Fungi by studying mushrooms using 3 Part Matching Cards and making Parts of Mushroom Booklets. After that, the children will learn about some other common fungi- including yeast, molds, and lichens.

Want to learn more?

-Our favorite local mushroom farm, Hazel Dell Mushrooms, has a great website- http://www.hazeldellmushrooms.com/.

-Mycologist Paul Stamets gave a really interesting lecture at the 2008 TED Conference called "6 Ways That Mushrooms Can Save the World" that you can watch at http://www.ted.com/. He also has a little cottage business where he sells mushroom kits (including the one we purchased), growing supplies, and educational materials on his website http://www.fungiperfecti.com/.