Exploring Fungi - Integrating Biodiversity and the Arts in Primary Years 3 and 4

Link to Exploring Fungi downloads. The Exploring Fungi Unit for Year 3 & 4 is a new resource in 2020 to celebrate Biodiversity. This is a free 10-week unit written by classroom teacher and artist Alieta Belle with mycologist Dr Sandra Tuszynska,  funded by your AAEE. Lesson Plans, resource sheets and online presentations are all classroom-ready.

Quick links: 

Exploring Fungi Unit Exploring Fungi Resources 1_4 Exploring Fungi Resources 5_7 Exploring Fungi Resources 8_13 Exploring Fungi Resources 18_24

About the resource: 

This unit of work was funded by The Australian Association for Environmental Education, AAEE.

Funded by: AAEE Curriculum Writers: Alieta Belle & Dr Sandra Tuszynska Unit Mycologist: Dr Sandra Tuszynska Thanks for generously sharing resources:

Queensland Mycological Society, North American Mycological Association, British Mycological Association, Creative Commons Copyright 2020 Sandra Tuszynska and Alieta Belle

The project authors:

Sandra Tuszynska (PhD) Sandra is an agricultural scientist with a PhD on the cellular

mechanisms of mycorrhizal fungi (root fungi) in protecting plants from heavy metal and other stresses. She loves fungi and the special role that fungi play in ecosystems as decomposers and regenerators. As a biophile, Sandra is a passionate science communicator and advocate for biodiversity, sharing biological facts in public forums. In her current role at Woodfordia, the home of the Woodford Folk Festival and The Planting Festival, she is an Environmental Projects Officer engaging citizen science, land and biodiversity restoration projects, research and development. Sandra loves to create engagements and communication pathways for a biologically informed future, in which we cooperate with the fascinating and rich biodiversity that sustains life on Earth.

Alieta Belle (Bachelor Visual Arts, Grad Dip Teaching) Alieta is a practising teacher in a

Queensland Independent Primary School, The River School. She works with networks of professionals in environmental and art fields to enrich student learning and offer real-world hands-on experiences to students. Alieta’s Media Arts students entered their fungi video ‘The Hidden World of Fungi’ into the Sunshine Coast Council’s Young Eco-Documentary Film Competition and won first place. Alieta was asked to submit work samples to ACARA for the curriculum area of Media Arts and these are being used on the ACARA website nationally. Alieta has published numerous articles nationally about the importance of integrating The Arts with other subject areas in the curriculum. She coordinates the participation of her students, in the Sunshine Coast Kids in Action Environmental Conference each year, promoting active citizenship in the area of Sustainability.

Alieta is a passionate advocate for Environmental Education being taught in schools.