It's A Fungus Among Us: The Good, The Bad & The Downright Scary

Description

Accurate, current fungus science presented in an intriguing, highly illustrated way. In It's a Fungus Among Us, you'll meet the wild group of organisms that can turn ants into zombies and eat trillions of pounds of feces every day. They also make cheese stretchy, add sour tastes to candy, and make bread rise. Historically, they've been blamed for the potato famine and the Salem witch trials. In the future, they may help save the environment because they can eat plastics in landfills and jet fuel from ocean crash sites. Read about outdoor adventures, kitchen experiments, and an introduction to Humungous Fungus, a 38-acre fungus with an ice cream named after it that holds the record for the world's largest organism. Feast your eyes on hundreds of full-color photos, check out activities and experiments, and learn all kinds of wild and wacky information.

Author description

Carla Billups has more than 27 years of teaching experience in elementary and middle-school grades, where she developed a passion for teaching science. Currently she is a STEM coach working with fourth and fifth grade teachers and is part of the science faculty for the Mickelson ExxonMobil Teachers Academy. She has served on the Outstanding Science Trade Book Committee for the National Science Teachers Association. Dawn Cusick has authored a dozen nonfiction children's books that have won national and international awards from the Animal Behavior Society, the National Science Teachers Association, the Children's Book Council's Children's Choice competition, and more. Her books have been profiled on NPR and Yahoo News. She teaches biology at Haywood Community College in western North Carolina.