The Big Reveal
Spore Prints: A Mushroom’s Fingerprint▾
- 1What Is a Spore?
- 2Catch Your Spore Print
- 3The Big Reveal
- 4Be a Mushroom Detective
Lift the lid
Morning is here! Time for the big reveal. Wash your hands first.
Gently lift off the cup or bowl. Then slowly lift the mushroom cap straight up. Try not to smudge the paper.
Ta-da! Colored dust
Look at the paper. Do you see it? A soft, dusty shape made of thousands of spores!
This is your spore print. All those tiny spores fell out of the gills and landed on the paper while you slept. Not one of them was big enough to see on its own. But together, billions of them make a shape you can spot right away.
A pattern like the gills
Look closely at your print. Do you see thin lines spreading out like a fan or a wheel?
Those lines match the gills of the mushroom. Each line is where one gill dropped its spores. The print is a picture of the mushroom's own gills!
The color surprise
Spores come in many colors. They can be white, cream, brown, pink, purple, or even black.
The color depends on the kind of mushroom. A portobello drops dark brown spores. A shiitake drops white ones.
Here is a clever trick. Dark spores show up best on white paper. Pale spores show up best on black paper. If you are not sure, put your cap on half white paper and half black paper. That way you will see the print no matter what color it is!
Say wow
You did it! You made something invisible turn visible. Next, we will learn how to keep your print and why scientists love them too.
Answer every question, then check how you did. You can try as often as you like — your score is just for you.
Sign in to save your score
Sign inRelated grow kits
These optional kits are sold in our external webshop. Learning here stays free. A grown-up handles orders and follows the kit instructions.