April 13, 2011

Exploring Fungi

This week in science, Casia has been studying fungi. So today, I let her explore a couple of samples using her microscope. I didn't have any particular assignment, I just told her to have fun and take some notes (draw and label what she sees). Her microscope also has a camera, so she took some pictures as well. She had a lot of fun and spent twice as much time as I thought she would on it. She probably would have kept playing but we did have some other work to cover. 

I had two fungi samples for Casia. The first was some mold growing on provolone cheese. I wish I could tell you that I set it aside intentionally, in the perfect environment, to create a specimen for use on this particular homeschooling assignment. But sadly, the truth is, my refrigerator has been much neglected of late. I get busy. I make meals, I put left-overs in, we eat some and others just get shoved to the back. This serendipitously grew all on its own, with no help from me. The other sample was a mushroom that sprung from a potted jade plant recently. 


Casia having fun with the microscope.

Casia has gotten better at maneuvering the slide and getting it into focus.

Mold from the provolone cheese- it looks so pretty under the microscope!
 
More cheese mold with a better view of the sporangia.

Mushroom.
I love this photo she took. 
I'm a photographer myself, and I do a lot of nature macro photography, 
and I think she capture a very beautiful aspect of an otherwise ugly mushroom.
I'm very proud of my little photographer-in-the-making.

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