A notebook.
Your findings.

Up to six proposals of Cabeceiras, in your own order, to do it at home, in company or on a break.

4 de 6 propostas escolhidas · faça-as ao seu ritmo.

PROPOSTA 1 DE 4 · Travel through time

Try observing

Gondiães and Vilar de Cunhas · memory and landscape

A house with three granaries

At Casa de Chouzas, three 19th-century granaries stand alongside the manor house highlighted by the municipality. The group connects two functions: living and storing the harvest. Rather than looking only at the main house, it is worth recognising the importance of buildings supporting agriculture. The introduction to Vilar de Cunhas places this heritage in a landscape of plateau and mountain, shaped by farming and pastoralism. House and granaries can be read in that working context, although the source does not detail each property’s production. The house’s dating is less firm: the municipality presents it as perhaps 19th-century, while assigning the granaries to the 19th century. That difference should remain visible. The photograph accompanying the reading shows the portal, not the three granaries. The heritage reference does not confirm access to the group.

Vamos experimentar?

1. Look at the photo of the portal and list only the elements you can see.
2. Compared to the three granaries mentioned in the text: what depends on the written description?
3. Imagine a caption that distinguishes the frame of the photograph from the remaining patrimonial set.

An activity to try at your own pace, without collecting specimens.

Open a história e os seus recursos →

Sources of this proposal

• Municipality — Gondiães e Vilar de Cunhas, landscape, heritage and craftsConsultation/revision: 2026-11-07

My findings

An idea, a drawing or a question to go on.

PROPOSTA 2 DE 4 · Read the landscape through the plants

Try observing

Hillside crops · olive botany

One leaf, two sides

The municipality’s landscape description includes olive trees on the hillsides of Cabeceiras. The cultivated olive has leaves that are grey-green above and silvery-grey beneath, where hairs grow. Its small flowers have four white petals joined at the base. The fruit is the olive, an oil-rich drupe. The University of Évora’s description follows the change from green to reddish and dark shades during ripening, but also mentions forms that remain green when ripe. Colour alone does not tell the fruit’s whole story. The connection from tree to olive oil continues in the story of the Ramil oil mill. The profile distinguishes the cultivated olive from its wild form, known in Portuguese as zambujeiro. The latter is described as having smaller leaves and fruits and thorny lower branches. This comparison shows why a single feature, such as the silvery underside of a leaf, does not explain every difference. The olive is evergreen: it retains foliage throughout the year. You can therefore return to the same tree in different seasons and compare leaves, flowers and fruits, without expecting to find them all at once.

Vamos experimentar?

1. Observes the photograph: draw the contour and the central nerve of the sheet.
2. The image does not show the two sides of the same sheet. Separate what you see from what the text explains on the lower face.
3. If you observe an olive tree throughout the year, record separately leaves, flowers and fruits, without taking off material.

An activity to try at your own pace, without collecting specimens.

Open a história e os seus recursos →

Sources of this proposal

• University of Évora — Virtual Museum of Biodiversity, Olea europaeaConsultation/revision: 2026-11-07
• Municipality — landscape and vegetationConsultation/revision: 2026-11-07

My findings

An idea, a drawing or a question to go on.

PROPOSTA 3 DE 4 · A world beneath the leaves

Try observing

General knowledge · national guide

The mushroom is only one part

A mushroom is a reproductive structure; the body of many fungi is a network of threads called mycelium. Each thread is a hypha. CCRES describes this network colonising living or decaying organic matter, from which the fungus obtains nutrients. The fruiting body develops from the mycelium and allows spores to disperse. If conditions are favourable, they can give rise to new mycelium. The visible mushroom tells only part of the life cycle; not all fungi produce cap-shaped structures. When some decomposer species are cultivated, mycelium can develop in inoculated logs. The same log can produce mushrooms for several years while conditions and nutrients remain suitable. This general explanation neither identifies a species nor documents its occurrence in Cabeceiras. The network can also form cords called rhizomorphs. In certain wood-inhabiting fungi, these help bridge gaps between branches or logs to reach another food source. An outer layer protects the inner hyphae during this exploration. Another strategy is to form sclerotia: compact masses of hyphae with a resistant covering. They allow fungi to survive unfavourable periods and, when conditions improve, can produce mycelium or reproductive structures. These are forms of growth and survival described by the Australian botanic gardens, not local records.

Vamos experimentar?

1. Draw a network of wires on paper and, above, a mushroom.
2. Tick the net as mycelium and choose a wire to represent a hyphae.
3. Use the drawing as a scheme: it does not represent the shape or size of a real fungus.

An activity to try at your own pace, without collecting specimens.

Open a história e os seus recursos →

Sources of this proposal

• DGADR / ICNF — Mushroom Collector's Guide, June 2013Consultation/revision: 2026-11-06
• Centre for Silvestre Resources Skills — production mushroomsConsultation/revision: 2026-11-07
• Silvestrian Resource Competence Centre — General MycologyConsultation/revision: 2026-11-08
• Australian National Botanic Gardens / Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research — The myceliumConsultation/revision: 2026-11-07

My findings

An idea, a drawing or a question to go on.

PROPOSTA 4 DE 4 · Life you do not always see

Compare two faces

Badger · general biology

A home beneath the ground

The European badger, Meles meles, is mainly nocturnal and shelters in extensive underground setts. Two dark stripes on a white head are a striking visual clue; its short legs have strong claws. Museu Virtual da Biodiversidade describes its presence in woods, forests and farmland with vegetation. This profile explains the species in mainland Portugal; it does not document an observation in Cabeceiras de Basto. The claws are long and non-retractile: they do not draw back like a cat’s. A short, pale tail provides another contrast with a fox’s long tail. These details help compare descriptions without searching for or disturbing setts.

Vamos experimentar?

1. In the photograph, it follows the light and dark bands of the head and the contour of the body.
2. Compare the text with the image: the description of the claws and the den goes beyond what this framework shows.
3. Open the otter story and compare the snouts in the two photographs, keeping the contexts of each park separate.

The badger was photographed at the British Wildlife Centre in the UK. A daylight photograph in a park does not invalidate the description of the species' mostly nocturnal habits.

Open a história e os seus recursos →

Sources of this proposal

• University of Évora — Virtual Museum of Biodiversity: Meles melesConsultation/revision: 2026-11-07

My findings

An idea, a drawing or a question to go on.