Summary
A mushroom can't move, but it can launch its spores into the air to travel far and grow new mushrooms. Deep Look reveals the clever ways fungi fling and float their spores to spread across the forest.
Viewer safety
All ages
Our rating is a quick teacher-to-teacher guide — preview before showing.
Teaching resources
Discussion questions
Talk about it
Mushrooms reproduce by releasing tiny spores that drift on the air or get flung outward, landing in new spots to grow. Spreading spores is how a fungus starts the next generation.
- How does a mushroom spread to new places if it can't move?
- What do the spores do after they leave the mushroom?
- Why is it helpful for spores to travel far from the parent?
Quick work-a-long
Vocabulary: spore, fungus, disperse, reproduce.
Try it: Puff a little flour off your palm and watch it drift. Write how a mushroom's spores travel on the air to grow anew.