Whizz Pop Bang Science Magazine for Kids! Issue 99: FANTASTIC FUNGI by Whizz Pop Bang

ISSN 2399 -2840

THE AWESOME SCIENCE MAGAZINE FOR KIDS!

DISCOVER ER E D D E Y E E O D

Craft a toadstool

i u g n F Fantastic Make spooky snacks

weird and wonderful

fungi

Glow-in -

the-dark

Fungi

WHIZZPOPBANG.COM ISSUE 99

EXPERIMENTS PUZZLES AMAZING FACTS SCIENCE NEWS

WELCOME!

This magazine is all about fungi, the incredible living network under our feet! Emmi

Did you know that the mush fore sts are just the fruiting rooms you se e growing in grow huge unde rground ne tw parts of fungi? Fungi also or that scientists are only re ceks hiding se cret functions In this edition of Whizz Pop nt ly be ginning to unrave l. Ba all sorts of we ird and wonder ng, you can discove r mushroom-spore ar twork, craf ful fungi facts, make t mo expe riment with fe eding ye as de l mushrooms and t fungi at home!

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Editor-in-Chief: Jenny Inglis Editor: Tammy Osborne Assistant Editor: Tara Pardo Designers: Rachael Fisher and Simon Oliver Illustrator: Clive Goodyer Staff writer: Joanna Tubbs Contributors: Sarah Bearchell, Anna Claybourne, Joe Inglis, Owen Inglis and Hannah Wood

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As well as our writers, we also have a team of science advisers who help to ensure that our content is accurate, up-to-date and relevant. Our advisers include: palaeontologist Steve Brusatte; molecular microbiologist Matt Hutchings; robotics engineer Abbie Hutty; mechanical engineer Aimee Morgans; GP Dr Cathy Scott; astronomer Mark Thompson; physicist Dr Jess Wade; child psychologist Dr Naira Wilson. To find out more, go to whizzpopbang.com/about

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Welcome to WHIZZ POP BANG – the magazine bursting with enticing articles, mind-boggling facts and hands-on experiments to get your child hooked on science! Whizz Pop Bang is a gender-neutral magazine with plenty of inspirational male and female scientists and content that appeals to all children.

The magazine is ideal for home educators and it’s linked to the national curriculum too, for use in schools. Whizz Pop Bang will help with literacy development as well. Transform science teaching in your school with our hands-on science and reading resources. Our downloadable lesson packs link fun science experiments and reading with key curriculum topics for years 2-6. Subscribe at whizzpopbang.com/schools

All experiments have been tried and tested by our team. The activities should be done under close adult supervision and are done at your own risk. Launchpad Publishing Ltd cannot accept liability for damage done.

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st tter © Shu

I made some spooky mushroom snacks!

WHIZZ POP BANG is made by:

CONTENTS

AWESOME NEWS AND AMAZING FACTS

‘Living skin’ made of fungi, a spectacular spiral galaxy and the hunt for a hidden planet in our solar system.

FABULOUS FUNGI

Explore this cool kingdom as you make art using mushroom spores, craft a toadstool and use fungi to fill a balloon!

c sto tter © Shu

k. c

Atom

ANIMAL ANTICS

Discover doe-eyed deer – the woodland wanderers who love to munch mushrooms.

SILLY SCIENCE

Fly around a fairy ring in this board game – it’s so mush fun!

EMMI’S ECO CLUB

co ck. rsto © Shutte

Make spooky snacks and upcycled ghosts, perfect for a green Halloween party!

PULLOUT

Make an awesome papercraft mushroom and cut out playing pieces for the fairy-ring game.

iki r/W

ia ed m

ushr oom Observe

INTERVIEW WITH A SCIENCE HERO

Lynne Boddy is a mycologist who investigates the incredible powers of fantastic fungi!

Find out how glow-in-the-dark fungi, fungi animals and some synthetic materials shine bright.

TEN AWESOMELY AMAZING…

Weird and wonderful fungi, fungi from one that looks like a little fairy bath to another that resembles disgusting sick!

I’d love to see pictures of your experiments! Send them to Y@whizzpopbang.com and ask an adult to tag us on social media @whizzpopbangmag

Y’S WONDER CLUB

Ask our robot, Y, your burning science questions and share all of your adventures in science with the club.

32 34

Meet Carl Linnaeus, who named a stinky plant after someone who questioned his work!

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ey l ex ©A

SENSATIONAL SCIENTISTS

28 sto ck

va tM

HOW STUFF WORKS

er ge e

hu tt er

Co m mo

QUIZ POP BANG AND COMPETITION

Test your knowledge with our super-duper science quiz and win a science recipe book.

JOKES AND ANSWERS

Laugh out loud at some awesome jokes and find the answers to all of our quizzes, puzzles and riddles.

SPECTACULAR SCIENCE

Discover an organism that can be used to measure levels of pollution.

FIND THE SCIENCE EQUIPMENT Hidden on each double page is a piece of science equipment. Tick each one to find the complete kit!

s Awesome New cts and Amazing Fa Inspired by 1980s action film The Terminator, scientists have made a living skin from fungi. In the film, a robot is covered with a living skin that disguises it as a human. Researchers from Spain and the UK grew a fungus called Ganoderma sessile, which normally grows on tree trunks, on the surface of a plastic model figure of the Terminator robot. Within five days, the fungus had coated the whole surface of the figure, creating a living skin which produced electrical signals in response to light and touch. The researchers hope that one day fungi could be used as natural sensors in buildings that respond to environmental changes or clothes that monitor and react to bodily conditions.

I’ll be back!

‘LIVING SKIN’ MADE FROM FUNGI

FUNGI COULD HELP REDUCE GLOBAL WARMING

Scientists have estimated that fungi hidden underground absorb a third of our fossil fuel emissions. Fungi form vast underground networks which interact with the roots of plants. Plants absorb carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air and transport some of the carbon to the fungi (in the form of sugars and fats) in exchange for essential nutrients from the fungi that help the plants to grow. Trapping carbon underground reduces the amount of CO2, a greenhouse gas which causes global warming, in our atmosphere. We previously had no idea how much carbon these fungal networks were storing, but now a team of researchers has calculated that about 13.1 gigatonnes of CO2 is transferred to fungi each year (roughly 36% of yearly global fossil fuels emissions). We don’t yet know how long this carbon stays locked away underground, but this discovery suggests that protecting soil and encouraging these fungal networks could help reduce the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. “The numbers we’ve uncovered are jaw-dropping,” said Professor Katie Field, professor of plant-soil processes at the University of Sheffield. “When we’re thinking about solutions for climate we should also be thinking about what we can harness that exists already.”

Check out this awesome image of a spiral galaxy captured by the James Webb Space Telescope. The galaxy, known as M51 or the Whirlpool Galaxy, was discovered in the 18th century, but this is the most detailed

picture of it ever taken. The bright white light in the middle comes from stars at the core’s centre, whereas the red and orange regions are filaments of dust and gases from recently formed stars.

IS THERE A NINTH PLANET IN OUR SOLAR SYSTEM? Kuiper Belt

COSMIC WHIRLPOOL

Astronomers in Japan think there might be. They’ve found evidence that suggests that an Earth-sized planet could be hiding in the Kuiper Belt – a region of icy objects beyond Neptune, in the outer reaches of the solar system. The astronomers noticed that some objects in the Kuiper Belt were behaving as if they were being pulled by the gravity of a small planet. They ran computer simulations which agreed that this was the most likely explanation. If it exists, this planet would be at least 250 times further away from the Sun than Earth is, so it would be very cold indeed!

News Flash

Montana, USA, who took ue 97) about the kids in Iss n, itio ed i far Sa the health and the You might have read (in tead of protecting their ins ry ust ind l fue sil fos g porting the kids! This groundbreakin their state to court for sup ge ruled in favour of the jud the , ion rat gh de ou nsi co thr s of seeking climate justice environment. After week world taking action and the d un aro s kid re mo to l in summer 2024. ruling is sure to lead is already set to go to tria A, US ii, wa Ha m fro s kid ht by the courts. A case broug

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FABULOUS FUNGI

Is it a plant? Is it an animal? No! Fungi are not plants or animals, but a totally different kingdom of living things. By Anna Claybourne

LIKE A PLANT?

Scientists used to think fungi, such as mushrooms, were a type of plant. You can kind of see why…

Looks like a plant to me!

They don’t walk, fly or swim around like most animals do

They have a stem They grow in the soil

LIKE AN ANIMAL?

Fungi are actually more closely related to animals. They can’t soak up sunlight to make food, like plants do. Instead, they take in food from their surroundings, sucking it up through their mycelium, a network of tiny hair-like roots called hyphae.

TOTALLY UNIQUE!

But fungi are also different from them both and do things their own way – and they have some very weird ways indeed…

Hyphae

TYPES OF FUNGI

So far, scientists have discovered around 150,000 types of fungi – but they think there could be 10 times more than that still waiting to be found!

There are three main groups of fungi:

MAKE A SPORE PRINT

LIFE OF A FUNGUS

Most fungi have a network of hyphae (or roots), called the mycelium. It’s often hidden underground.

Start

Finish

Sometimes, the mycelium grows fruiting bodies – the parts we call mushrooms or toadstools! They can grow very fast – in some species they pop up overnight!

Mycelium mindbender Can you find a way along the mycelium to link the two mushrooms? Check your answers on page 34. Instead of seeds, mushrooms have tiny spores that look like powder or dust.

Gills

The cap of the mushroom opens up and releases the spores from its gills.

Spores

Catch a mushroom’s spores to make a beautiful print.

Yo u will need

large, flattish mushroom A bought from a food shop White paper A glass bowl

What you do

1. Carefully break off the mushroom’s stem (or if it won’t break off, ask an adult to cut it off neatly). 2. Put the mushroom gill-side down on the paper, sprinkle the top with a few drops of water and cover it with the bowl so it doesn’t dry out. 3. Leave it for two days.

Why don't mushrooms like sitting on sofas? They prefer toadstools!

They blow away in the wind to grow into new fungi.

Yo u should find

Remove the bowl and lift the mushroom up carefully. It should have shed its spores onto the paper, making a spore print.

Mushrooms and toadstools Like the ones you get on a pizza or see growing in the woods.

Moulds

Yeasts

They grow on things like old, rotting fruit and bread, or damp bathroom walls.

These microscopic single-celled fungi often live in or on other living things.

I’d love to see your spore prints! Take a photo and ask an adult to tag us on social media @whizzpopbangmag and email it to Y@whizzpopbang.com

All photographs © Shutterstock.com

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Functional fungi

Fungi are incredibly important! They help plants, wild animals, and us humans too.

HELPING PLANTS GROW

We’re superheroes!

Fungi are decomposers. That means they feed on bits of dead plants and animals and break them down into useful chemicals. This makes the soil Chomp! healthier, helping new plants to grow.

Thanks!

You’re

welcome!

But there’s more! Some fungi also grow their mycelium around plant roots, helping the plant to soak up the water and chemicals it needs from the soil. In return, the plant shares food with the fungi.

Fungi help plants to grow by making the soil more fertile and helping plant roots to soak up water and food.

Mycelium around roots

WE LOVE FUNGI TOO…

MOULDY MEDICINE

To find wild truffles, truffle hunters use specially trained dogs to sniff them out! They used to use pigs, but they kept eating the truffles!

medicines that kill bacteria. They’re used to treat diseases and infected wounds. Many of these medicines come from moulds, which make them to protect themselves from bacteria.

pes of mushroo ms al ty r e , su ev s ch t ea

Porcini mushrooms

Button mushrooms

Enoki mushrooms

Chanterelles

Many animal species love to snack on wild mushrooms – especially hedgehogs, deer, monkeys, birds and beetles.

Truffles are fungi with fruiting bodies that grow underground. They’re sold as a delicious, expensive delicacy in fancy restaurants.

… as

W e

Humans also eat fungi and use them in lots of other ways as well.

FOOD FOR ANIMALS

Mmmmm, I smell a truffle!

Antibiotics are

YEAST BALLOONS

FUNGUS FARMERS

Leafcutter ants get their name because they bite off pieces of leaf to take back to their nest…

What does yeast need to grow? Find out with this experiment.

Yo u will need

Two balloons the same size Dried yeast (1 teaspoon or one sachet) Sugar Funnel and teaspoon

…but they don’t actually eat the leaves. Instead, they put them in a special fungus garden in their nest, where a fungus feeds and grows on them. The ants care for the fungus, giving it a safe place to live – and it makes food for the ants to eat.

What you do 1. Use the funnel to half-fill one balloon with warm (not hot) tap water. 2. Add half of the yeast, plus a teaspoonful of sugar, and tie the balloon closed tightly. 3. Do the same with the other balloon, adding water and yeast, but NO sugar.

Fungus garden

What does a to toadstool use ? or sweep the flo m! A mush-broo

4. Swirl both balloons around to mix the ingredients, then leave them for an hour.

Yo u should find

One balloon blows up! Yeast feeds on sugar, so the yeast in the balloon with sugar in it can feed and make lots of carbon dioxide gas.

BREAD BUBBLES

How does bread get its soft, squishy texture full of bubbles? It’s thanks to another type of fungus: baker’s yeast, which gets added to bread dough. The yeast feeds on sugar in the dough, releasing bubbles of carbon dioxide gas as a waste product. The dough gets filled with bubbles, making it rise.

Ancient Egyptians used to put mouldy bread on cuts and wounds. Answer on page 34 All photographs © Shutterstock.com

PARP! That’s right! The bubbles in bread are actually FUNGI FARTS! whizzpopbang.com 9

Frightening fungi Beware! Not all fungi Be afraid… be very afraid! are friendly. In fact, some are seriously scary, deadly dangerous, or look like something from a horror movie!

Mushrooms can walk. Answer on page 34

DON’T EAT ME!

WHICH IS WHICH?

Though some mushrooms are fine to eat, others are poisonous to humans. You should only eat mushrooms bought from a food shop or checked by an expert.

People often call poisonous mushrooms toadstools – but mushrooms and toadstools are actually all one group. And unfortunately, edible and deadly fungi can look very alike. For example…

Fly agaric

Destroying angel

Death cap

Deadly dapperling

Common conecap

Deadly wild mushrooms can look very similar to edible ones.

HORROR SHOW!

Some fungi are very scary-looking, even if they’re not poisonous. What would you think if you saw one of these in the woods?

This is an edible straw mushroom…

…and this is a killer death cap toadstool. They look almost the same!

THE HUMONGOUS FUNGUS!

The biggest living thing on Earth is thought to be a honey mushroom fungus growing in a forest in Oregon, USA. Its massive mycelium covers almost 10 square kilometres – that’s 1,400 football pitches! It weighs more than a blue whale and is thought to be over 2,500 years old. The deadly fungus attacks and kills the roots of the trees then decays the dead wood.

Bleeding tooth fungus

It’s not really blood, just red sap.

Dead men’s fingers Sometimes they look like toes instead!

All photographs © Shutterstock.com

Spot the killers! Three of these fungi are poisonous – but WHICH three? Check the rest of the magazine for clues and see if you can spot them. Check your answers on page 34.

Remember, you should never eat wild mushrooms unless you’re with an expert!

n orange or easy-peel A tangerine A sharp knife Thick paint or nail varnish in bright colours A clean twig Glue

ZOMBIE ANT FUNGUS!

The scariest fungus of them all could be cordyceps – some species turn ants into zombies!

1. The fungus

spores, which land on more ants!

lands on an ant as a spore and infects its body.

Make a realistic-looking toadstool out of an orange!

Yo u will need

5. Finally, the fungus releases more

ORANGE PEEL TOADSTOOLS

4. Then the fungus grows its fruiting body – right out of the ant’s head!

Must… climb… higher…

What you do 1. Ask an adult to cut a line in the peel around the middle of the orange, like this. 2. Carefully peel off the orange peel dome, without breaking it. 3. Leave the peel on a sunny windowsill or near a heater for 1-2 days to dry it out.

2. It grows

inside the ant and invades its brain!

Uh? What’s happening? 3. The fungus controls the ant. It makes it climb up the highest plant it can find and hold on tight.

4. When it’s hard and dry, paint it in bright colours. Leave each colour to dry before adding the next. 5. Glue the twig inside to make a stalk.

Don’t panic! This can happen to some other creepy crawlies too – but not to humans. Phew! You could

sta toadstool in s nd your om modelling clay e brown , like this whizzpopbang.com 11

AL ANIM S TIC

Deer

Oh dear, oh dear, what’s our vet Joe Inglis up to this month, crawling through the woods in a camouflaged jacket? It turns out he’s on the trail of some keen mushroom munchers...

Deer are large mammals that live mainly in woodlands, forests and grassland savannahs. They can be found on every continent except Antarctica and Australia. They range in size from the South American pudu deer, which is about the size of a small dog, up to the giant elk, which can reach over 800 kg in weight!

The deer over here There are six species of deer living in the UK but only two are native to this part of the world – red deer and roe deer. The other species – fallow, muntjac, sika and Chinese water deer – have all been introduced from other countries (or escaped from zoos and private collections).

Chewing it over Grass, shrubs and trees make up most of a deer’s diet. They digest these tough plants in the same way that cows and other ruminants do, with four separate stomach chambers and lots of chewing. They bring up bits of half-digested food from their stomachs for extra chewing, which is called chewing the cud.

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There are more deer in the UK now than ever before. Answer on page 34

Fungi foragers

Mushrooms are deer-licious!

As well as plants, deer also love eating mushrooms. They will often seek them out in the summer and autumn because they are rich in essential nutrients, including phosphorus which is vital for growing antlers. They eat many species of fungi, including some which are poisonous to people, but they can also detect the toxins in really poisonous species so they can avoid them.

Velvet & violence

Stuck in a rut The mating season for deer is called the rut (from the Latin word for ‘roaring’ because of the noise they make). This is when the male deer compete for the does, showing off their antlers and battling their rivals. After the rut is over in late autumn, male deer lose their antlers – they regrow a new set the following year.

Nearly all male deer (called bucks or stags) grow antlers, which are used for fighting and showing off to female deer (called does). Antlers are covered in a soft furry layer called velvet (like the fabric) when they first grow. This soft tissue falls off to reveal the super-tough bony antlers beneath.

Fill in the missing numbers. Check your answers on page 34.

HINT: 9 + 4 = 13

gs! Dance your way around the fairy rin ng There are fungi cards to pick up alo the way – will they show you friendly or foul fungi?

Yo u will need

The game cards and player counters from pages 18 and 19 A dice

Ho w to pl ay

Fairy

! n u f g n i r Sometimes mushrooms appear in a ring, usually in meadows, fields or lawns. People often call them fairy rings! This happens when the mycelium (an underground network of fungal threads) grows outwards from a central point. As it uses up the nutrients in the soil, it grows outwards to find more, and the circle gets bigger. The area inside the circle is called the necrotic zone. You might find withered plants there because the mycelium has used up the soil’s nutrients.

1. Place the cards on the board where indicated.

2. Players should fold their counters and place them at the start, then throw the dice to see who goes first. 3. Take it in turns to throw the dice and move around the board. 4. The first one to reach the finish is the winner!

What do you call a clever fairy? Thinker-bell!

Pick up a card

START Place your cards here

FINISH

Pick up a card

Which of these are the names of poisonous fungi and which ones are made up?! Tick the ones you think are real and then check your answers on page 34.

Destroying angel

W itch’s wart

Fool’s funnel

Angel’s wings

Dragon’s teeth

Autumn skullcap

Funeral bell

Bone bell

Panther cap

Deadly parasol

Pick up a card Pick up a card

Pick up a card A fairy ring found in France was about 600 metres wide and over 700 years old!

Pick up a card

There are lots of folk stories about fairy rings. In Germany, they were said to be the place where witches gathered to dance. Dutch stories said they were where the Devil churned his milk, while In the UK, they were usually said to be where elves and fairies danced.

Pick up a card Pick up a card

Pick up a card

whizzpopbang.com 15

b... clu O C E

Emmi’s

Make tasty snacks and upcycled decorations, perfect for a spooky party!

GREEN HALLOWEEN

Gh ost deco rations Yo u will need

wo A4 pieces of scrap paper T Ruler Pencil Scissors White fabric (e.g. a bedsheet or T-shirt that is too old or stained

abric scissors or F pinking shears 50 cm length of yarn or string Thread or small rubber band Black marker pen

to be passed on)

2 Cut out a template measuring 21 cm x 21 cm from scrap paper. Fold it in half, corner to corner, then unfold, fold it in half again and unfold again to find the middle.

16 whizzpopbang.com

rn Fold the ya the e ti d in half an a to in loose ends n k the ot knot. Push slit then through the knots tie two more e Th . in the end e inside knots will b nd the the ghost a ck out of loop will sti you can its head so hang it up.

Draw around your template onto some white fabric with a pencil and draw a dot in the centre. Cut out the fabric square using fabric scissors or pinking shears and make a tiny snip on the central dot.

Screw up a piece of scrap paper and flatten it out lots of times until it feels quite soft. Screw it into a tight ball then put it on top of the knot. Gather the fabric together under the ball and wrap a rubber band or thread around it to keep the ball of paper in place. Add eyes with a black pen.

Continued on page 21 ➜

I’d love to see your Halloween projects! Take a photo and ask an adult to tag us on social media @whizzpopbangmag and email it to Y@whizzpopbang.com

Mushroom skull snacks You will need

lean, dry mushrooms, cut in half C Chopping board or plate Drinking straw (a metal, plastic or bamboo reusable straw works well) Sharp knife or skewer

Make two small slits below the eyes for nostrils, then make some ridges on the mushroom’s stalk for teeth.

You can make these ghosts from kitchen paper, tissue paper and a clean, dry plastic bag, too!

ECO

Use the straw to make two eye holes in the mushroom’s cap.

facts...

Mushrooms are being used in some incredible ways to help to save the planet.

Biopesticides (that control insect damage)

and biofertilisers (that feed plants) can be made from fungi instead of the dangerous chemicals that are often used in farming. ungi can clean up pollution. For example, F mushrooms grown on the site of an oil spill remove the contaminants from the soil and break them down so they are non-toxic.

Continued from page 16

We can all help to save the planet. Lots of small actions can make a BIG difference! Fully compostable packaging

can be made from fungi – replacing polluting materials like polystyrene.

Even shoes can be made from

fungi! Mushroom leather uses fewer resources to produce than leather made from cows’ skin.

whizzpopbang.com 21

➜

5. Take the toilet roll tube and make eight cuts in one end, about 2 cm long. Fold the sections inwards. 6. Add glue to the folded-over sections and place template 2 on top. You could add a weight (like a big blob of sticky tack) to hold it in place while the glue dries. 7. Add glue to the edges of template 2 and place template 1 on top. 8. Cut a strip of thin paper, roughly 12 cm x 3 cm, make some cuts into it and then roll it around a pencil so that the paper curls. Stick it to the toilet roll tube, near the top.

Yo u should find

You’ve made a model of a cap mushroom. The scientific name for gills is lamellae. These are the parts of the mushroom that make and release spores. The mushroom ring, or annulus, is the remains of a thin layer that protects the spores while the mushroom is growing and developing.

Riddles

Check your answers on page 34.

1. What type of cheese is made backwards? Draw these fungi into the empty boxes so there is one of each kind in every row, column and block of four squares. Check your answer on page 34.

TEMPLATE 2

18 whizzpopbang.com

2. What kind of room has no furniture, door or windows? 3. I only live where there’s light, but if the light shines on me, I die. What am I?

Foul fungi

Friendly fungi

Cordyceps fungi create ‘zombie’ ants by infecting their brains and controlling them

Delicious mushrooms are perfect on a pizza!

JUMP BACK 2 SPACES

LEAP FORWARD 2 SPACES

Foul fungi

Friendly fungi

Ringworm is a ringlike skin rash caused by a fungus

Lots of medicines come from fungi, including penicillin

JUMP BACK 2 SPACES

LEAP FORWARD 2 SPACES

Foul fungi

Friendly fungi

Frog-killing fungi have made some species extinct

Tasty soy sauce is made using a common mould

JUMP BACK 2 SPACES

LEAP FORWARD 2 SPACES

Foul fungi

Friendly fungi

Some types of mould can cause asthma attacks

Enzymes from fungi help us wash clothes in cold water, saving energy

JUMP BACK 2 SPACES

LEAP FORWARD 2 SPACES

Foul fungi

Friendly fungi

Dandruff can be caused by a type of fungus

Mushrooms can be used to dye fabric many different colours

JUMP BACK 2 SPACES

LEAP FORWARD 2 SPACES

Foul fungi

Friendly fungi

Athlete’s foot is a fungal skin infection

Bricks that are twice as strong as concrete can be made from fungi

JUMP BACK 2 SPACES

LEAP FORWARD 2 SPACES

Foul fungi

Friendly fungi

Some mushrooms are poisonous to eat, causing illness or sometimes death

Fungi help to process cacao seeds to make yummy chocolate!

JUMP BACK 2 SPACES

LEAP FORWARD 2 SPACES

C for

PULL OUT pages 17-20 and get making! MUSHROOM MODEL Make a marvellous mushroom complete with gills and a mushroom ring!

Yo u will need

You cou ld paint yo ur mushro om if you lik e!

he templates T over the page

Toilet roll tube Scissors Glue Sticky tape issue paper or T thin paper Paint (optional)

What yo u do 1. Cut out the templates. 2. Take template 1 and cut along the solid lines. Gently bend each section so it is slightly curved. 3. Add glue to the white area on one of the sections, then overlap the next section onto it and stick it in place. Repeat with all of the sections to create a dome shape. 4. Fold template 2 with alternating mountain and valley folds, like a concertina. Glue the end sections together to create a circle.

Continued on page 18 ➜

whizzpopbang.com 17

We’d love to see your mushroom models! Send your photos to Y@whizzpopbang.com and ask an adult to tag us on social media @whizzpopbangmag

UNDERSIDE

20 whizzpopbang.com

Cards for pages 14-15

TEMPLATE 1 TOP

Find a printable version of the pullout here: bit.ly/3Rj4uTH

Counters for pages 14-15

whizzpopbang.com 19

Interview with a SCIENCE HERO

In my job I get to... investigate the kingdom of fungi!

Lynne is a woodland fungi expert at Cardiff University. If you have any questions of your own for Lynne, you can email her on FungusProf1@gmail.com

rsity

Professor Lynne Bodd Fungal ecologist y

“

When I was a student, I lived in a damp flat with fungus growing under the stairs!

”

“

I grew up in the 1960s as astronauts landed on the Moon.

It was a type of dry rot fungus called Serpula lacrymans which grew through walls, rotting any wood it could find, including drawers with my clothes in. It grew huge fruit bodies with rustcoloured spores. I found it fascinating!

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Without fungi, the ecosystems of our planet just would not work.

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important, Everyone knows that plants are how but many people don’t realise attach y The . important fungi are to plants feed and nts to the roots of over 80% of pla nutrients. In them with water and mineral gi sugars. A return, the plants give the fun l kilometres era spoonful of soil can have sev it! of fungal filaments (hyphae) in

Lynne with a parasol mushroom 22 whizzpopbang.com

”

It was such an exciting time! I was always interested in science and nature. When people asked me what I wanted to do when I grew up, I said ‘a scientist or a teacher’ – now I do both! At university, I studied biology and statistics and was fascinated by anything to do with ecology – plants, soil, freshwater environments and more.

Interview with a SCIENCE HERO

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I set up battles between fungi to see which one wins.

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In my laboratory experiments, I do things like letting fungi grow out of pieces of wood across soil and see what they do when they find new bits of wood that they can feed on. I also do a lot of work in woodlands.

Lynne teaching in a laboratory

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I spend a lot of time investigating fungi!

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I ask which fungi live where, what they are doing and how they are affected by the changes in our climate. I try to work out which species are threatened and if they need conservation help.

They break down dead plant matter and release the nutrients that were locked up inside so that plants can use them to grow. It is the hidden network of fine fungal filaments that does this, not the mushrooms or toadstools (they are equivalent to the fruits of plants).

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Fungi growing out of cubes of wood across the surface of Find outnmore xxxxxx soil. Whe they about meet, the y fight!

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Fungi are the great recyclers.

Almost every day I find out something new about fungi.

”

recently was An exciting thing that happened Pop Bang being asked to appear in Whizz ntist, being magazine! If you want to be a scie nt things. orta inquisitive is one of the most imp iou as cur s about At nearly 70 years old I am still I was 7 years old. the natural world as I was when

Lynne being filmed for BBC's Winterwatch programme

For a chance to win one of four copies of Lynne Boddy’s book, Humongous Fungus, head to our blog! bit.ly/3XWx6Ua

whizzpopbang.com 23

HOW STUFF

WORKS

Glow in the dark From glowing mushrooms to glow sticks, all sorts of animals, plants and manufactured products glow in the dark. Here’s how some of these weird and wonderful phenomena work… © Ylem / Wikimedia Commons

Flashlight fungi People have known about glowing mushrooms for thousands of years – they have even been used as lanterns by native tribes in Indonesia. But until recently, no one really understood what made these fungi glow. Research has now shown that a molecule called luciferin is responsible for this bioluminescence (say by-oh-loom-in-ess-ents). A chemical reaction causes photons of light to be emitted, creating this magical glow. It’s thought that mushrooms glow in order to attract insects at night to help spread their spores.

Bright beetles Like glowing mushrooms, a group of beetles known as fireflies, glow-worms and lightning bugs also use luciferin. They have a special organ in their abdomens called the lantern where the chemical reaction takes place to create the brilliant light they use to attract mates in the evening twilight. Each species has a different pattern of flashes that act like coded messages, bringing males and females together in the dark.

24 whizzpopbang.com

Scientists have copied the special jagged shape of the scales on fireflies’ abdomens to make LED lights that emit 50% more light than normal.

Moon jellyf

ish

Some deep-sea fish dangle glowing lures containing biofluorescent bacteria to trick other fish into thinking there’s food there – only to be gobbled up by the anglerfish!

The oceans are full of animals that use bioluminescence to glow, from tiny marine algae and tube worms to jellyfish and deep-sea predators! In the deep, dark twilight zone, up to 90% of living things produce their own light to attract prey in the darkness, frighten away predators or for camouflage.

Sparkly seas

Bioluminescent marine plankton create a light show in the waves.

Bioluminescence is thought to have evolved independently over 40 times!

Glow toys

When glow sticks are bent, a container inside breaks, allowing two chemicals to mix and react, producing light.

Factory-made glow-in-the-dark materials, such as glowing paint and plastic, shine in the dark thanks to a process known as phosphorescence (say foss-for-ess-ents). This happens when a material absorbs light energy in the daytime and then slowly releases it once it gets dark. A chemical called strontium aluminate is used in most glow-in-the-dark materials, with a rare earth material called europium added to make it glow even more brightly.

ars on your bedroom ceiling!

You might have glow st

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g.. in z a m A ly e m o s e w A 0 1

E D N O W D N A D R I E W

look like furr y Meet the fungi that s of sick and feet, fairy baths, pile ngi can be more! REMEMBER! Fu ild fungi unless deadly. Never eat w d it’s safe. an expert has checke

This fungus, which looks a bit like a creepy hand, is known as devil’s fingers. It’s a type of stinkhorn – it smells of rotting flesh. This attracts insects, which then distribute its spores.

The blue pinkgill is native to New Zealand and is also known by its Māori name, werewere-kōkako. There is a myth that the kōkako bird got its blue wattle from rubbing against this colourful mushroom.

The kōkako bird’s bright blue wattles

3 4

This yucky-looking stuff is known as dog sick slime mould! It spends most of its life as tiny organisms in the soil that eventually clump together and move to the surface, forming a patch of vomity-looking slimy mould.

The spiny puffball is covered in spikes, which fall off as it ages. At the same time, its fleshy inside turns into a mass of spores and a pore (small hole) develops on top of the mushroom. When raindrops land on it, spores puff out of the pore.

5 26 whizzpopbang.com

People once believed that wood elves drank morning dew from the

scarlet elf cup

fungus. They’re also known as fairies’ baths – can you picture magical woodland creatures making use of these tiny fungi?

I G N U F L D E RFU

This is the orange pore fungus – also known as the orange ping pong bat because of its shape! Its underneath is covered in pores that are generally pentagonal or hexagonal.

This brightly coloured mushroom often looks damp or slimy. It’s known as the scarlet waxcap, scarlet hood or the righteous red waxy cap.

The violet coral fungus isn’t just stunning to look at – it’s also useful, producing a substance that causes white blood cells to clump together, which is used in medical testing.

Is this a group of furry hares’ paws? No, it’s a few

hare’s foot ink cap toadstools! This delicate toadstool turns into an inky fluid if it is disturbed, or as it gets older.

Turkeytail is a type

of bracket fungus (fungi that grow in layers of fan shapes on dead wood) and this one is said to look like the tail of a turkey! It’s quite common in the UK – have you spotted one?

© 1. Mary Smiley and Matt Binns / Wikimedia Commons, 2. godi photo / Shutterstock.com, 3. Lairich Rig / A slime mould - Mucilago crustacea / Wikimedia Commons, 4. Holger Krisp / Wikimedia Commons, 5. aydngvn / Shutterstock.com, 6. Michael (inski) / Wikimedia Commons, 7. Dan Molter / Wikimedia Commons, 8. bob.leccinum.Robert Kozak / Shutterstock.com, 9. Lebrac / Wikimedia Commons, 10. Jerzy Opioła / Wikimedia Commons

whizzpopbang.com 27

Sensational Scientists

Carl Linnaeus

Carl Linnaeus was a botanist and doctor whose ideas on naming and sorting organisms are still used today. CARL LINNAEUS WAS BORN IN 1707 IN RÅSHULT, SWEDEN.

Carl loved plants and animals so much that his family called him ‘the little botanist’. When he finished school, he went to university to study plants and medicine. At that time, doctors needed to know about the healing properties of some plants, and how to make medicines from them. After a couple of years, he began teaching botany to the other students, as he knew more about it than the teachers!

If a tree dies, plant another in its place.

Carl went on some epic adventures, exploring nature as he travelled. The more he learned about plants, animals and minerals, the more frustrated he became by the way that they had been sorted and named. He knew there must be a better way…

Carl’s sorting system Carl divided all things into three kingdoms: animal, vegetable and mineral. Kingdoms were divided into classes, then orders, then genera and finally into species. (In modern classification, we also include the ranks of family and phylum.) Carl used binomial classification, where every living thing is named after its genus and its species (binomial means ‘two names’). This system was not his own idea, but Carl’s work led to it being used widely.

K ingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Proboscidea Family: Elephantidae Genus: Loxodonta Species: africana

African bush elephant – Loxodonta africana Genus

Match the binomial name to the common name. Check your answers on page 34.

Rattus rattus

Lion

Felis catus

Bogue (a species of fish)

Panthera leo

Black rat

Rhinoceros unicornis

Cat

Boops boops

Rhinoceros

Species

By Joanna Tubbs

He published many books including Systema Naturae (System of Nature) and Genera Plantarum (Species of Plants). In Genera Plantarum, he created a way of classifying plant life, dividing them into 24 categories based on how many stamens they have and how they are arranged.

Carl sent many of his students on amazing voyages around the world, where they collected samples of exotic plant species and sent them back to him.

el ku le

m edia Co mons ikim

A Sigesbeckia plant – what a stinker!

Ugh, this is heavy!

Carl named loads of species after his friends, colleagues and heroes. When another doctor and botanist, Johann Siegesbeck, disagreed with his work, he named a smelly, unattractive plant after him (and the name is still used today)!

Carl tried to use his skills to make money. He tried (and failed!) to grow cacao, coffee and bananas in Sweden’s cold climate. When he learned that pearls could sometimes be found hidden inside mussel shells, he decided to find a way of forcing mussels to grow pearls – which worked (although it took six years per pearl)! This didn’t make him rich, but the King made him a nobleman. He bought a house in the countryside where he built a museum to keep his personal collection until he died in 1778.

Carl didn't get everything right though! He believed that everything living was born from an egg. This idea was so important to him that he included an egg right in the middle of the coat of arms that he designed for himself!

How many flying insects can you spot in the scene? Check your answer on page 34.

whizzpopbang.com 29

Email me at Y@whizzpopbang.com

der Club!

Welcome to Y’s Won to share your This page is for you with our robot, adventures in science p Bang readers! Y, and other Whizz Po ce question Everyone whose scien is page gets answered on th ng wins a Whizz Pop Ba Science Joke Book, ome available in our awes at online science shop

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F oR

Dear Y, Why do helicopters sound like ‘flub flub flub’ and not ‘whirrrrrrr’ (like a fan)?

CURIoUS K I DS

From Sam, aged 10 It’s because of the power of the engine, Sam! Helicopters and fans both work by moving the air with their blades – a helicopter moves it down to create lift and a fan moves it wherever you point it. The end of each moving blade creates an area of swirling air, known as a tip vortex. The rhythmic flub flub flub sound of a helicopter is made as each rotating blade enters the tip vortex left by the last one. A fan is less powerful and usually has more blades, so each blade makes a smaller vortex and a softer sound – creating a whirrrrrrrr.

We love what you have done with your Whizz Pop Bang envelopes! Alice created this pop-up scene.

Louie, aged 7, enjoyed prep aring and eating h is strata sandwich fro m th Dino Disaste e r edition. Megan, aged 11, turned the characters into stickers.

enamel badges Y’s Wonder Club Badges Collectable for you to earn! Help local wildlife to earn your Wildlife Watcher badge.

Investigate scientific questions to earn your Super Scientist badge.

Help save the planet to earn your Eco Hero badge.

It looks like you had great fun with the Monster Machines edition!

Dear Y, Why does your stomach rumble when you’re hungry?

Best wishes, Bethan, aged 9

There’s a wonderful scientific name for this sound, Bethan – borborygmus (say bor-bor-ig-muss). It almost sounds like the rumble itself! If you listen to a friend’s tummy, you’ll hear a whole range of gurgles and rumbles – and not just from their stomach. These noises are made as muscle contractions push food through the digestive system, in a process called peristalsis. Hunger rumbles usually start about two hours after your stomach empties. The hollow space means your stomach wall vibrates more, making the rumbling sound louder… which tells you that it’s time to eat!

Bea, aged 8, made a birds’ with twigs fr nest om garden (from the th Bouncing Bab e ies edition).

Lewis, aged 8, bing used his grab up k ic p machine to ther ro b is h litter with 10. Joshua, aged

Adam, aged 6, at his found out th up s k grabber pic a lot s ct je lighter ob an th ly si ea more . es n o er vi ea h

Ellis used the pulley system to lift up his teddy.

9, Arthur, aged , 10 ed and Euan, ag g in ak m had fun the grabber.

Dear Y, I would like to know why I get so much snot when I cry. Can I cry without being all snotty? Elizabeth, aged 6

Your eyes make small amounts of tears all the time, helping to keep them clean and comfortable. Look carefully at the corners of your eyelids, close to your nose, and you’ll see a tiny hole at the top and the bottom. Tears drain through these holes and into your nose. When you cry, some of the extra tears mix with thick snot in your nose to make lots and lots of runny snot. If you blocked the holes, you wouldn’t get runny snot when you cried – but you would have tears running down your face all the time… how annoying!

Get problem solving to earn your Epic Engineer badge.

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Ellie, aged 9, made the flea catapult from the Pesky Parasites edition. Send your experiments, ideas, photos, reviews and questions to Y@whizzpopbang.com or Y, Whizz Pop Bang, Unit 7, Global Business Park, 14 Wilkinson Road, Cirencester, GL7 1YZ. Don’t forget to include your name, age and address. We can’t return any post, sorry.

To find out how to earn your badges, go to whizzpopbang.com/wonder-club. Schools can get involved too! Find out how here: bit.ly/39xNQ Q qV

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um/dad/ Test your m rocer local greeng at to see wh

How much can you remember from this issue?

they know!

Test your knowledge with our super-duper quiz. Just tick the answers you think are correct, mark them using the answers on page 34 and then add up your score. If you need some help, check out the hints at the bottom of the page.

Luciferin is a molecule that…

a) disperses spores

c) makes mushroom

s slimy

What might you find inside a fairy ring? a) Withered plants

Which one is NOT a real fungus? a) Bleeding tooth fungus

fairy’s finger b) A

b) Destroying angel

he James Webb c) T telescope

Carl Linnaeus’s family called him… a) The little botanist

c) Deadly nappywort

What are fungi’s hair-like roots called? a) Gills

b) T he little scientist

b) Hyphae

c) T he little rascal

a) Fallow deer and water deer

c) Red deer and roe deer

bioluminescence

Which deer are native to the UK?

untjac deer and sika deer b) M

b) is responsible for

I didn’t like mushrooms, but after a while they started to grow on me!

c) Spores

What colour are the kōkako bird’s wattles? a) Red b) Orange c) Blue

The biggest living thing on Earth is thought to be a fungus the size of… a) 1,400 football pitches

b) 1 4 football pitches c) 1 football pitch

Need a hint? Find the answers by reading these pages… 1) Page 24 2) Page 12 3) Page 14 4) Page 10 5) Page 28 6) Page 6 7) Page 26 8) Page 10

Answers on page 34.

I scored: .......... 1-3: Gill-iant result! 4-6: The world’s your oyster (mushroom)! 7-8: You are the champignon! (Psst – that’s French for mushroom!)

Get your camera at the ready to enter our fungi photography competition and you could win one of five awesome science cookbooks. You might find fungi in your garden, local park or woodland, in the countryside or even growing on a wall!

! IN

Fungi in focus

hy tips Photograp Stay focused – get as close as you can to your subject, but not so close that your camera can’t focus on it. If your photo looks fuzzy try moving back a little.

Keep still – using a tripod or resting your camera against something solid like a rock or branch will help you to take nice, clear photographs.

Play with angles – taking photos from different angles can make them interesting and lively.

Remember, you should never eat wild less mushrooms un pert! ex you're with an

Science cookbook Chews Your Own Tasty Adventure by Dr Sai Pathmanathan is a fun interactive book published by faber.co.uk. Experiment with recipes from around the world – from cupcakes to churros and paratha to pide! ‘Chews’ each ingredient in an interactive game and then see which recipes you can create! There are clear and simple instructions, fun facts for each recipe and lots of top tips.

WINNERS

Issue 97 competition winners Thank you to all of you who sent in your entries to our Safari competition. The answers were D2 and F1. These five lucky winners will each receive a pocket microscope from playmonster.co.uk Hana Urikova, 6 Struan Dunbar, 10 Maisie Mandelbaum, 9

Betty Noble, 7 Seth Johnson, 8

Send your entry to win@whizzpopbang.com with ‘Fungi competition’ as the subject of your email. Alternatively, post it to Fungi competition, Whizz Pop Bang, Unit 7, Global Business Park, 14 Wilkinson Road, Cirencester, GL7 1YZ. Please don’t forget to include your name, age and address. Deadline: November 8th 2023. UK residents only. Full terms and conditions available at whizzpopbang.com. Sorry, we are unable to return any post.

whizzpopbang.com 33

JOKES What kind of vehicle does a mushroom drive ? A spores car!

Why didn’t the little mushroom go to school? She wasn’t m-ould enough!

Page 7 – Mycelium mindbender

Start

Finish

What goes b jacket pot est with atoes? Button mu shrooms! Two fairies are in rooms h s u m o ng the forest eati What d o school? e wear t mushrooms and on caps! g n i k n asks the other, i Th !” ? us G n, fu g in av “H

Page 13 – Antlers puzzle

7 12

Answers Page 18 – Fungi sudoku

Page 9 – True/Untrue

Page 10 – True/Untrue UNTRUE: Mushrooms can’t walk but some single-celled fungi can join together and slither around! Page 11 – Spot the killers puzzle

Page 13 – True/Untrue TRUE: With no wolves or lynxes preying on wild deer, there are more deer in the UK than at any time for at least the last 1,000 years!

These are the real fungi names: Destroying angel Fool’s funnel Funeral bell Panther cap Angel’s wings Autumn skullcap Deadly parasol

Page 28 – Match the names Rattus rattus – black rat Felis catus – cat Panthera leo – lion Rhinoceros unicornis – Indian rhinoceros Boops boops – bogue (a species of fish) Page 29 – Spot the insects There are 13 flying insects in the scene. Sensational Scientists

By Joanna Tubbs

These ones are made up! Dragon’s teeth Witch’s wart Bone bell Page 18 – Riddles 1) Edam – it spells made backwards! 2) A mushroom 3) A shadow

Carl Linnaeus

Carl Linnaeus was a botanist and doctor whose ideas on naming and sorting organisms are still used today. CARL LINNAEUS WAS BORN IN 1707 IN RÅSHULT, SWEDEN.

These are the poisonous fungi: 1) Destroying angel 4) Fly agaric 5) Death cap

Page 15 – Fungi names puzzle

Carl sent many of his students on amazing voyages around the world, where they collected samples of exotic plant species and sent them back to him.

If a tree dies, plant another in its place.

ue ek ol

Wik

ia Commons imed

A Sigesbeckia plant – what a stinker!

Ugh, this is heavy!

TRUE: The Ancient Egyptians may not have known how it worked, but they knew mouldy bread helped to kill germs – thanks to the antibiotics made by the mould.

K ingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Proboscidea Family: Elephantidae Genus: Loxodonta Species: africana

African bush elephant – Loxodonta africana Genus

Species

Match the binomial name to the common name. Check your answers on page 34.

Rattus rattus

Lion

Felis catus

Bogue (a species of fish)

Panthera leo

Black rat

Rhinoceros unicornis

Cat

Boops boops

Rhinoceros

How many flying insects can you spot in the scene? Check your answer on page 34.

whizzpopbang.com 29

Page 32 – Quiz 1) b 2) c 3) a 4) c 5) a 6) b 7) c 8) a

Lichen Lichens are made up of two different organisms working together – a fungus and algae (or in some cases, bacteria). The algae use photosynthesis to make simple sugars, feeding the fungus. In return, the fungus provides the perfect home for the algae. This lichen is called maritime sunburst (Xanthoria parietina). It grows on tree bark and also on walls, roofs and rocks. It gets its yellow colour from a chemical that protects it from UV; when it grows in the shade, it is much greener. It can survive even where there is lots of pollution. Because of this, it is used as a biomonitor – scientists can measure the levels of contaminants inside it to find out how polluted the environment is.

R A L U C A T C E SP

e c n e i c s

FANTAST IC FACTS FR OM

CELEBRI TY SCIENTI STS

COMING SO O celebrating

N...

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Whizz Pop

Bang!

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