Sort, estimate, weigh, graph, plant
Mix Lima, garbanzo, black,
pinto, great northern, kidney beans and black-eyed peas together. Give
student a portion of the mixture. Ask students to sort the beans noticing
their sizes, shapes and colors. Pass around a small stuffed animal. Ask
students to guess how many lima beans would weigh the same amount as the
stuffed animal. Record their estimate for lima beans. Do the same (ask
how many beans would weigh the same as the stuffed animal) for all of the
beans and record their estimates. Use balance scale to determine the number
of beans of each variety that equal the weight of the stuffed animal.
Record the actual amounts and make a graph with data.
Extra: Have each garden team
plant one of each kind of bean seed in their garden. Will they grow?
Save seeds not planted for a bean art activity on another day.
Make Bean Soup
2 cups Seven Bean Soup mix
2 quarts water
1 ham hock
1 large onion, chopped
Salt & pepper to taste.
Sort and wash 2 cups bean mix; place in a large
soup pot. Cover with water 2 inches above beans and soak overnight. Add
salt and pepper (If you add salt prior to beans cooking they will remain
hard) Use a potato masher to mash some of the beans in the pot to thicken
the soup a little. Remove ham hock, remove meat from bone, chop meat
and return to soup. Yield: 2 1/2 quarts.
What happens when dry beans get wet?
Give students dry pinto beans and pinto beans
that have been soaked over night. Ask students to weigh and measure dry
and wet beans. Compare size and shape of wet and dry beans. Give
students pinto beans that have been soaked over night. Ask students to
remove seed coat and open the seed. Use hand lens or magnifying glass to
identify the little plant (embryo) inside of the seed. Discuss the
parts of a seed and their function. Draw and label the seed
and its parts including seed coat, food storage, little plant (embryo).
Story
I remember as a child of about six years old,
my mother sitting in the shade of a tree in our backyard with a couple
of aunts snapping green beans as my cousins and I played around them.
We were careful not to get too close. If we disturbed them we would
be handed a bowl of green beans and told to "help." They sat on kitchen
chairs brought out for the occasion, their hands never stopping as they
talked of their gardens and the produce they had been "putting up." Each
would give an inventory of the produce they had canned that season.
"I put up 53 quarts of pickles this year." one might say. Another
would brag of the, "24 pints of corn in my freezer."
Bush Bean (common varieties include Blue Lake,
Kentucky Wonder & Derby (about 58 days to harvest). Research
question: How do these beans differ from each other?
Pole Beans (common varieties include Blue Lake,
Kentucky Wonder and Kentucky Blue (about 65 days to harvest). Research
question: Do Blue Lake and Kentucky Wonder pole beans and bush beans produce
the same kind of bean?
Special project
Spring: One class write a book describing their experience
planting and growing different kinds of beans. Includes photos showing
the beans at different stages and students involved in activities described
in the book, i.e. planting & watering. The book will be published on
the website and used to teach first graders. Students will: Sequence the
process of planting and caring for bean seeds; use language to communicate;
identify the characteristics of living things.
Nutrition Facts (1/2 cup fresh cooked fresh green
beans)
Calories 15
Dietary fiber 1.6 grams
Protein 1 gram
Carbohydrates 3.5 mg
Vitamin A 340 IU
Vitamin C 7.5 mg
Folic Acid 21 mg
Calcium 31.5 mg
Iron .4 mg
Potassium 94.5 mg
Snap beans, string beans, and pole beans are
the immature pod and beans of dried legumes. All of these will mature to
produce fat seeds and tough inedible pods. The nutritional profile of mature
dried beans is very different from that of green beans. Green beans are
a good source of carbohydrates. They are a moderate source of protein,
dietary fiber, Vitamin C and beta carotene. The beta carotene is converted
to vitamin A in the body. Green beans also contain small amounts of calcium
and other trace nutrients. |
