5th-grade Students’ Misunderstandings and Misconceptions about Fungi

Mold

• Mold is a type of fungus. It develops on bread, cheese, etc.
• Mold is spoiled and inedible substances (such as food spoilage).
• Mold is a microscopic organism that lives on food that has been left out.
• Mold is a living organism that occurs when food is kept for a few weeks.
• Mold is a decay phenomenon.
• Mold is a living organism that thrives on something in a humid environment.
• Mold is a protective shield that forms on exposed food.
• Mold is alive. It is found in dough and makes it moldy.
• Mold is a dull thing because it doesn’t move.
• Mold is fungus because mushrooms feed on it.
• Mold is inanimate, a dead thing.
• Mold is alive because it consists of fungus.
• It is a microscopic creature.
• Mold is alive and reproduces by reproducing.
• Mold is alive and contains millions of microscopic creatures.

Fungi

• Fungi reproduce in hot and humid environments.
• Fungi reproduce similarly to plants.
• Fungi reproduce by clinging to soil or trees.
• Fungi reproduce with their roots.
• Fungi reproduce by spore.
• Fungi have a cap, roots, and stem.
• Fungi are soft and there are lines under them.
• Fungi is hard and mottled.
• The inside of the fungus is filled with microscopic creatures.
• Fungi have a cap. Some have structures containing poison.
• Fungi feed on humid environments when grown, it is collected and eaten.
• Fungus is a type of plant.
• Fungi are different from other creatures such as plants and animals.
• Fungi are living things that are both capped and too small to be seen with the eye.
• Fungus is a creature with poisonous and non-poisonous species.
• Fungi are creatures that live in nature and can reproduce.
• Fungus is a white-colored creature with a long body and a hat.
• People die from fungi, fungi take up the nutrients of an old tree and reproduce by seeds.
• Fungi are microscopic creatures that are not plants and can cause disease.

Yeast