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Western Ghats Biodiversity Expedition: Basidiomycetes, Deuteromycetes & Kingdoms Survey

Biological Classification

Join a MoEFCC biodiversity expedition in the Western Ghats to explore mushrooms, bracket fungi, and imperfect fungi in India's richest biodiversity hotspot, then survey the defining features of Kingdoms Plantae and Animalia.

30 min
Duration
3
Missions
11
Problems
175
XP

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📖 Your Story

You are a student researcher on a MoEFCC-sponsored biodiversity expedition in the Western Ghats, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the world's eight hottest biodiversity hotspots. Your team is surveying fungal diversity in the monsoon forests near Silent Valley, Kerala, and cataloguing organisms across all kingdoms. From wild mushrooms on fallen logs to parasitic rusts on crops and the magnificent flora and fauna of the Ghats, every observation deepens your understanding of biological classification.

What You'll Learn

  • Identify key characteristics of Basidiomycetes: branched septate mycelium, absence of sex organs, basidiospores produced exogenously on basidia, basidiocarps, and common Indian examples.
  • Understand Deuteromycetes as 'imperfect fungi' — known only by asexual phases, with conidia-based reproduction and reclassification upon discovery of sexual stages.
  • Describe the defining features of Kingdom Plantae including cellulose cell walls, chlorophyll, alternation of generations, and exceptions like insectivorous plants.
  • List the characteristic features of Kingdom Animalia: multicellular heterotrophic eukaryotes lacking cell walls, holozoic nutrition, and glycogen/fat storage.

How to Play

1Explore each field station in the Western Ghats by reading the observation notes and examining the specimen descriptions provided.
2For each encounter, classify the organism and answer the MCQ based on your knowledge of Basidiomycetes, Deuteromycetes, Plantae, and Animalia.
3Use up to 3 hints per question when you need help recalling specific classification criteria.
4Complete all three missions to submit your final biodiversity report to MoEFCC.

3 Missions Await

1

Mushroom Kingdom of the Western Ghats

4 problems · 45 XP

2

The Imperfect Fungi Mystery

3 problems · 45 XP

3

Kingdoms of the Canopy: Plantae & Animalia in the Western Ghats

4 problems · 85 XP