Students examine various types of beans and place them into different categories.
Grades(s) K, 1, 2
Subjects(s) Math, Science
Objective
1. To understand that there are different ways to classify and group items
2. To work with others and see things from their perspectives
Materials
1. Several bags of dried beans (several varieties)
2. Permanent markers
3. Paper plates
4. Plastic cups filled with beans. Mark some of the beans with different colors using the permanent markers.
5. Glue and construction paper
Lesson
1. Discuss with students different ways of classifying objects (color, shape, size, use, etc.)
2. Place a bowl of fruit on a table. Brainstorm with the students about ways the fruit is alike and ways it is different.
3. Each student picks out one characteristic that some of the fruit has in common and draws a picture of the selected fruit. Students share their pictures and ask the class to guess why they grouped the fruit as they did.
4. Divide the students into groups of four. Give each group a cup of beans.
5. Each group analyzes the beans and decides how to classify them. They do not have to use all of the beans and can come up with more than one grouping.
6. Each group chooses their favorite way to classify the beans and glues those beans onto a sheet of construction paper. The teacher goes around and helps the students write a sentence on their paper telling how they classified their beans.
Assessment
Students classify buttons or other objects as a follow up activity. They can bring buttons from home. Math geometric shapes and colors can also be used as an extension in math class. Students can classify the shapes and make a mosaic.