Mould

High school (ages 12+)
Science & Technology

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/mould

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the nutritional strategy?Primarily saprotrophic, utilizing extracellular digestion to break down complex organic matter
2. What is the ecological function?Crucial decomposers, driving nutrient cycling and soil formation; also form symbiotic relationships
3. What is mould and how does it grow?Mould is a tiny living thing that grows in a network of hair‑like tubes called hyphae, forming a mycelium underground or inside things. It breaks down food and other organic stuff into simpler parts that it can eat.
4. Where can mould be found?Mould can live almost everywhere – in damp kitchens, bathrooms, soil, forests, deserts, even deep sea. It loves places that are moist and warm.

Hyphae: Microscopic, thread-like filaments forming the vegetative body (mycelium) of fungi.
Mycelium: The interconnected network of hyphae that constitutes the main body of a fungus.
Spores: Microscopic reproductive units produced by fungi, enabling dispersal and colonization.
Saprotroph: An organism that obtains nutrients by decomposing dead organic matter.