Nature's Relationships

Flowers are awesome! Thanks to decomposers like mushrooms, nutrients are returned to the soil and allow new plants to grow.

Find a flower with a color you like and smell it. Does it have a fragrance that you like? Flowers exist to attract pollinators that help them reproduce.

Once you complete these activities, tap the checkbox and move on to the Bee icon.

Pollinators are awesome! They go from flower to flower eating nectar. Pollen sticks their bodies and transfers to other flowers to help them reproduce.

Bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, and beetles are just some of the pollinators you might see. Can you find any on your adventure?

Once you complete these activities, tap the checkbox and move on to the next icon.

Even dead trees are important to the forest. Whether standing (called a snag) or fallen (a log), dead trees are important homes for many animals. Pollinators like bees often build hives in snags.

Can you find a snag or log on your hike? Do you see any animals, plants, or fungi living on it?

Once you complete these activities, tap the checkbox and move on to the next icon.

Lichens are awesome! They live on surfaces like trees, rocks, or soil. A lichen is actually two organisms living in a symbiotic relationship. Fungus provides the structure and algae provides the food.

Can you find a lichen growing on a rock? A tree? The soil? Lichen comes in many forms so stay observant.

Once you complete these activities, tap the checkbox and move on to the next icon.

Mushrooms are 'fruit' of a fungus. Fungi can't produce food for themselves through photosynthesis, so they have to pair with algae to form a lichen or feed on something else. Many fungi are decomposers, feeding on dead things and returning the nutrients to ecosystem.

Look for mushrooms growing on your adventure. Can you tell what the mushroom is feeding on? A log? The roots of a tree? Something else?

Once you complete these activities, tap the checkbox and move on to the next icon.