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We rely on a vast network of devices that communicate autonomously to provide many of the services we use every day. However, the enabling technologies behind the Internet of Things (IoT) are often not taught in K-12 classrooms, in part due to the need for hardware. But most teens in the United States have smartphones. Thus, we introduce PhoneIoT, a mobile app that allows students to access their smartphones programmatically over the Internet. PhoneIoT supports access to live sensor data from the device and controlling a customizable display on the phone’s screen. PhoneIoT allows students to learn the fundamental concepts of distributed computing and networked sensing using NetsBlox, a simple but powerful extension of the Snap! block-based programming environment. Because both PhoneIoT and NetsBlox are free and open-source, instructors are able to teach these advanced computer science topics even remotely without extra hardware. 

Fungal interactions during leaf decomposition can facilitate or inhibit other fungi. This experiment focused on whether preconditioning of leaf litter by microfungi that were confined to one leaf (Unit-Restricted) made leaf litter less likely to be colonized and decomposed by basidiomycetes that bind litter into mats (Non-Unit-Restricted) than non-preconditioned litter. Leaves of Manilkara bidentata in litterbags were preconditioned by incubating them for 0, 1, 2 or 3 months in flat litter/seed rain baskets 10 cm above the forest floor to avoid colonization by basidiomycete fungi. Preconditioned and non-preconditioned leaves were transferred to 5 replicate basidiomycete fungal mats of Gymnopus johnstonii for 6 weeks. Both attachment by basidiomycete fungi and percent mass loss after 6 weeks decreased significantly with increasing preconditioning time. In non-preconditioned leaves, gamma irradiation did not affect mass loss or percent white-rot despite having significantly increased numbers of basidiomycete fungal connections as compared to non-irradiated leaves. In non-preconditioned leaves, more basidiomycetes attachmented to non-irradiated than irradiated leaves suggest facilitation by phyllosphere microfungi. While basidiomycete colonization was initially facilitated by phyllosphere fungi, we inferred that degradation of resource quality led to fewer fungal attachments and less mass loss after 1–3 months of preconditioning by microfungi. The date suggest there is a 1-month time window for basidiomycete fungi to incorporate fallen leaves into their litter mats.