Project Ideas

Garden Toolkit and curriculum provided by Back to the Roots® . Visit backtotheroots.com/curriculum to download all unit materials and view source listings.
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Living trees
drop leaves
THE CIRCLE
OF LIFE
MUSHROOMS PLAY
A KEY ROLE
An ecosystem is an ecological system, or all the living things in an area interacting
with one another and the resources available there. Every living thing, or organism,
has a special role to play as they interact with the same resources (the things that
aren’t alive like nutrients, minerals, air, water, and sunlight). Everything feeds something else, and eventu-
ally everything dies. Some organisms have evolved to be able to break down the dead things to recycle the
nutrients and continue the circle of life . Which resources do you need to live? (Hint: See Chapter 1!)
Chapter 2: What do mushrooms do?
The Ecosystem
New trees begin to grow
and the circle of life con-
tinues.
The new seeds enter the soil
and grow, grow, grow!
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The fallen tree becomes
a home. Animals move
in to live in the tree as it
decomposes, breaking up
the pieces that are still
together (and bring new
seeds along with them).
When the decomposition
is complete the result is a
nutrient rich soil full of lots
of living organisms!
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The mycelium is not alone!
The soil food web is an
ecosystem below the soil.
Worms, bugs, bacteria, and
other organisms exchange
nutrients as they eat the
mycelium and each other.
When the rain comes, the
threads weave together to
push out from the dead tree.
The mushroom forms and
starts releasing spores out
into the world (more on this
in Chapter 3!).
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As the mycelium grows it
creates new enzymes to try
to break down the wood and
plant material faster. Myce-
lium is really smart—when it
tries an enzyme that doesn’t
work, it tells the whole sys-
tem so it never wastes time
trying that enzyme again!
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The mycelium has three jobs:
1) find food, 2) eat food, and
3) reproduce. The mycelium
puts out a wave of special
compounds it produces
called enzymes which start
to break down dead trees
and plant material (think of
enzymes working like milk to
break down a cookie!). Once
the enzymes break it down,
it can be used as food by the
mycelium.
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The mycelium grows through
the dead leaves and soil and
comes to break down the
wood on the tree.
2
Mushrooms play a very important role in the
ecosystem. They decompose (or break down)
the dead trees and leaves, making the nutrients
available in the soil for the rest of the system.
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