KS2 Heroes and villains

Learning outcomes 

• Understand what fungi are and why they are important 

• Recognise that some of the requirements of plants for life are provided by fungi 

• Describe a variety of ways that human beings use fungi 

• Recognise some of the threats fungi pose to plants and animals, including humans  

Key vocabulary 

Fungi; habitat; environment; nutrients; threat; disease; product; medicine; food 

Background information 

You may have eaten a mushroom or seen a fairy ring before, but did you know that there may be as many as 3.8 million species of fungi in the world? 

Which of these can help us and which can harm? Who are the fun-guys and who are the bad guys? 

Did you know? 

Acid from a certain type of fungi is used to make Lego ® 

Wow fact 

Otzi is a 5300-year-old Iceman who was discovered frozen in the Italian Alps. He was carrying two types of fungus with him; a birch polypore and a hoof fungus. Mycologists (fungi scientists) think one was used for lighting fires and the other has medicinal properties. 

Part 1: Challenge preparation (1 hour) 

We recommend this is completed in class with the teacher.

1. Introduce the challenge to your class by playing the short clip in the overview. All of the other tools needed for the challenge are in the 'Resources' section below

2. Use the thinking card to check pupils’ prior knowledge and misconceptions of the topic

3. Play the Heroes and villains ‘Watch and learn’ video with your class  

4. Invite pupils to sort fungi into “harmful” or “useful” categories with the card sort activity 

5. Print out the What are fungi? infographic for your pupils to read or display on the whiteboard as a whole class approach  

6. Print out the Pupil’s Research Template resource for your pupils to use during the challenge 

7. Assess your pupils' learning with the quiz  

Part 2: The challenge (1-2 hours) 

Pupils can complete the challenge alone or in groups, and either in class or as a homework activity.

Kew’s Endeavour challenges are open-ended to encourage pupils to design and carry out their own investigations. For KS2 Heroes and villains, pupils must design and create a comic book cover or poster depicting fungi “heroes and villains”. Their poster can be hand drawn or computer generated. 

By “hero” we mean has positive effects on living organisms or the environment. 

By “villain” we mean has negative effects on living organisms or the environment. 

To complete this challenge you will need to: 

• Investigate what fungi are 

• Research positive and negative effects fungi have on us and the environment 

• Name some species of fungi 

• State the role your chosen fungi play, whether positive or negative 

Download lesson plan

Endeavour promotes the acquisition of Science Capital, helping your pupils to have a better understanding of science and its relevance in their lives. By taking this challenge your pupils will be using the skills of a comic book artist. 

What does a comic book artist do? 

Comic Book Artists create the artwork for a comic strip or book. Often working in teams, they outline scenes, describe the characters and action and detail what will happen. They will then work on the drawings using a range of media - for example pencil, ink, paint or graphics – to bring the comic alive. 

Skills: 

• Imagination and creativity - able to develop ideas 

• Researching - finding relevant information 

• Design and illustration 

• Communication - able to present ideas through text and images 

• Presentation - presenting information clearly and concisely 

• Development - able to translate initial idea to finished product 

• Collaboration - working with others 

Fungi

Kew

• 11 fungi facts
• Hidden world of fungi
• State of the World’s Fungi

BBC 

• Honey fungus largest living organism
• Cordyceps killer fungi

Microbe magic 

• Bad fungi
• Good fungi

Inverse - Zombie fungus

Otzi the Iceman

Treehugger -12 Things You May Not Know About Otzi the Iceman