PLPPM 2010

Magical Mushrooms, Mischievous Molds

Course Description

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2016-2017.

Presentation of the fungi and their roles in nature and in shaping past and present civilizations. Emphasizes the historical and practical significance of fungi as decayers of organic matter, as pathogens of plants and animals, as food, and as sources of mind-altering chemicals.

When Offered Spring.

Distribution Category (OPHLS-AG)

• Students will be able to describe with words and pictures the life cycle of a fungus from spore to spore, with appropriate terminology to distinguish sexual from asexual reproduction and environmental factors that affect each step in the cycle.
• Students will be able to explain the sequential events that led to current concepts of classification of fungi in the Tree of Life.
• Students will be able to relate the occurrence and/or spread of selected high consequence plant diseases caused by fungi to the evolution of human cultures.
• Students will be able to make a reliable first assessment (without benefit of sophisticated tools or equipment) of the probability that a landscape tree poses a safety hazard to residents or passersby.
• Students will be able to identify six common edible mushrooms and four of the most deadly look-alikes.
• Students will be able to analyze a previously unseen problem related to the scope of fungal biology presented in the class and use that information to propose a means for resolving the problem.

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