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Mushrooms: Not Plants at All worksheet preview

Worksheet

Mushrooms: Not Plants at All

Read an article about mushrooms and fungi, then answer questions and check answers using details from the text.

Grade 3ELAInteractive · Printable

Aligned toRI.3.1

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What’s included

  • Single worksheet
  • Auto-graded online
  • 1 Common Core standard
  • Printable answer key
  • 9 questions
  • Classroom-ready

Details

Format
Interactive · Printable
Grade
Grade 3
Subject
ELA
Question types
Fill in the blank, Multiple choice, Circle the answer, Sorting, Short answer

About this worksheet

What students practice

  • Students tell which question a paragraph of an article answers.
  • Students answer questions about an article using details from the text.
  • Students check whether answers to questions are supported by the text.

How to use

Have students read the article on their own or with a partner. Before they answer, model how to find the paragraph that a question is about and reread it.

Curriculum

Common Core standard covered

RI.3.1

Ask and answer questions to show understanding of an informational text, using the text itself as the basis for the answers.

Preview

OwlSheets.com

Name Date

Mushrooms: Not Plants at All

Ask and answer questions about an article on fungi.

Read the article

Read the article about mushrooms.

Meet the Mushrooms

1After a rainy night, you might see mushrooms popping up on a lawn or along a forest trail. Many people think mushrooms are plants, because they grow in the ground and stay in one place. But mushrooms are not plants at all. They belong to a group of living things called fungi.

2Plants make their own food. They use sunlight, air, and water to do it. Fungi cannot make their own food. Instead, they take in food from the things they grow on, such as dead leaves and old logs.

3The mushroom you see is only a small part of a fungus. Most of the fungus is hidden underground or inside a log. It is a large web of thin threads that spreads out in every direction. The mushroom pops up from these threads, a bit like an apple grows on a tree.

4Under the cap of many mushrooms are thin folds called gills. The gills drop millions of tiny specks called spores. Spores are so small that you would need a microscope to see just one. The wind carries them away, and some land in places where they can grow into new fungi.

5Fungi are important helpers in a forest. As they feed on fallen leaves and dead trees, they break them down into tiny bits. Those bits become part of the soil and help new plants grow. Without fungi, much more dead wood would pile up on the forest floor.

6Some mushrooms are safe to eat, but others are poisonous. Many poisonous mushrooms look a lot like safe ones. That is why you should never pick and eat a wild mushroom. Look at mushrooms with your eyes, and leave them where they grow.

Ask and answer

Use the article to answer each question.

1.
Which question does paragraph 1 answer?
  • A. How do fungi help a forest?
  • B. How do mushrooms make spores?
  • C. Are mushrooms really plants?
  • D. Which mushrooms are safe to eat?
2.
According to paragraph 2, how is a fungus different from a plant?
  • A. A fungus uses sunlight to make food.
  • B. A fungus cannot make its own food.
  • C. A fungus gets its food from rain.
  • D. A fungus makes food in its leaves.
3.
Kofi asks, "Where is the rest of the fungus?" Read paragraph 3 again. Underline the sentence that answers his question.

The mushroom you see is only a small part of a fungus.Most of the fungus is hidden underground or inside a log.It is a large web of thin threads that spreads out in every direction.The mushroom pops up from these threads, a bit like an apple grows on a tree.

4.
Use paragraph 4 to answer each question. Write a word from the word bank. Two words are not used.
Word bank: wind · logs · gills · leaves · spores

What are the thin folds under a mushroom's cap called?  
What are the tiny specks that the folds drop called?  
What carries the tiny specks away? The  

5.
Which detail from the article shows how small spores are?
  • A. They drop from thin folds called gills.
  • B. Some land in new places and grow into fungi.
  • C. You would need a microscope to see just one.
  • D. They come from mushrooms after a rainy night.

Check the answers

Look back at the article to check each answer.

6.
Ben wrote answers to some questions about the article. Use the article to decide if each answer is correct. Sort them.
Q: What group do mushrooms belong to?
A: FungiQ: How do fungi get their food?
A: They make it from sunlight.Q: What carries spores to new places?
A: RainQ: Where is most of a fungus?
A: Hidden underground or inside a logQ: What do dead leaves become after fungi break them down?
A: Part of the soilQ: How big is the mushroom part of a fungus?
A: It is the biggest part.
Correct answerWrong answer
7.
Jada read paragraph 5. She asked, "What happens to the dead leaves that fungi feed on?" What is the answer?
  • A. They turn into new mushrooms on the logs.
  • B. They are carried away by the wind like spores.
  • C. They break down and become part of the soil.
  • D. They pile up higher on the forest floor.
8.
Which TWO things does paragraph 6 tell you to do when you see a wild mushroom? Choose two answers.
  • A. Look at it with your eyes.
  • B. Pick it and take it home.
  • C. Taste a small bit to test it.
  • D. Leave it where it grows.
  • E. Dig it up to see its threads.
9.
Kai says, "Mushrooms are plants because they grow in the ground." Use details from the article to explain why Kai is wrong.

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