Growing Beans in the Classroom
Nothing like setting up an experiment in the classroom and it not turning out exactly how you expected, right? Well, I’m here to share all my tips and tricks for growing beans in the classroom so your experiments are a success!
- dried beans (pole, bush, or lima beans)
- paper towels
- spray bottle of water
- clear glass jar or small clear plastic cup
My #1 Tip for Success
Before I go any further, I want to tell you the one thing I feel makes or breaks this experiment. It’s what will get you tall, lovely sprouts like the picture above in only ten days:
Soak the Beans in Water Overnight!
I can’t stress enough that you should soak the beans in water overnight beforehand. I’ve tried the experiment with and without soaking the beans. Soaking the beans boosts the germination process and you see roots in a day or two. Within ten days, the bean sprouts have a tall stem with leaves growing out of the top of the jar. When I’ve not presoaked the beans, it took five or six days for the first root to begin to emerge. Even then, the entire germination process seemed to go a lot slower.
Now that you’ve soaked your beans, let’s start the experiment!
- Fill the container about halfway with paper towels.
- Place several beans on the outside of the paper towels in the container so you can watch them grow.
- Spray the paper towels with water to dampen them.
- Place the container near a window or on a window ledge.
- Observe and watch the beans grow over the following days and weeks!
Can the Seeds Grow Without Soil?
We teach students that plants need water, air, sunlight and soil to grow. Some students may wonder how these seeds will grow without soil. It might be helpful to point out that you can germinate seeds, or help them start to grow, without soil. Why? It’s because the food the seed needs to start growing is inside the seed. The seed provides food for a short time and then you must plant the seedling in soil for it to continue to grow.
Experiment Variations
This experiment helps students learn the basic needs of seeds and plants. What happens if they don’t get what they need?
Prepare a few extra jars with beans and alter some of their growing conditions. Observe what happens.
- No water : Don’t soak the beans in water overnight or wet the paper towels in the container.
- No air : Use a sandwich bag for this one. Use a straw to suck as much air from the bag as possible before zipping it shut.
- No sunlight : Place the jars away from windows or even in a dark space like a cabinet.
- Not enough space : Place seeds in a group touching each other.
- No soil : Seeds will germinate without soil, but will they keep growing and produce fruit (beans) if left in the container with no soil? This will take a lot longer to observe. Another option is to plant the beans in sand. Give them water and sunlight, and observe what happens.
Growing Beans FAQs
What beans did you use? I used pole and lima beans. I’ve successfully germinated both kinds.
Do I need beans from a seed packet or can I used dried beans from the grocery store? While you may certainly use a purchased seed packet of beans, I’ve always had success germinating and sprouting dried beans I’ve brought at the grocery store. I recommend soaking and germinating a couple of dried beans at home to make sure your dried beans will work before doing it with your students.
How long will it take to see anything? One or two days if you soak the beans overnight, five or six days if you don’t soak them. I soaked my beans overnight and put them in a jar and baggie. The very next day I already saw the root coming out of most of the beans.
Can I do this experiment anytime of year? I think so! I live in the Midwest and germinated these seeds towards the end of January! Even though it was cold outside and the windows themselves felt cold, there was enough sunlight and warmth to begin germination. If you want to keep the plants alive or transfer them into a garden, you will need to begin germination closer to actual planting time.
What if the paper towels get dry? Use a spray bottle of water to moisten the paper towels if you feel they are too dry.
Can I germinate beans in a sandwich bag? Absolutely! Just place a damp paper towel and several beans in a zip-top sandwich bag and seal it. Then tape or place the bag on or near a window and watch them grow!
Students learn so much about plants by growing beans in the classroom. It’s really fun to watch the little beans grow so quickly. Sometimes there’s a huge difference from day to day. I hope these tricks and tips help you and your students become expert germinators!
More Plant Resources
Parts of a Plant Lollipop Activity
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Plant Unit for Kindergarten and First Grade
29 Comments
I really enjoy to see the plant growing.
hi this is cool info
Hey there! I am soaking my Lima beans to grow in our classroom and I noticed they are wrinkling and some of them are splitting. Is this normal? Thanks so much for your info! We’re excited to try it!
That’s a great question! The wrinkles are completely normal. As for splitting, when the inside of the bean rehydrates quicker than the outside, the bean will split. It happens sometimes. You can have students examine the split beans to see what’s inside the seed. Good luck and I hope your students enjoy growing their beans!
Hi, I’m a PreK teacher and have found the past several years, that the beans get moldy in the children’s ziplock bags. How can I avoid the mold?
That’s a great question! I might try doing it with glass jars instead of baggies. I’ve never had an issue with mold when growing them in glass jars like I shared in the blog post. I also leave the lid off to allow air circulation.
If you need to use bags, you might try leaving the top open or making a few holes near the top of the zipped bag. Another idea is to only leave the beans in the bags for just a few days and plant them as soon as you can.
I hope these ideas help! Good luck!
Hi Cara! Two easy tricks are 1) spritz rather than soak the towels in water 2) staple a horizontal row of staples about two inches down the bag and place lima beans along the staples before sealing. Veteran teacher tip—best of luck!
They need to wash their hands thoroughly before “planting”.
When do you put the bean in soil?
Hi! I plant them as soon they look like the one pictured with roots, stem, and a few leaves. They shoot up very quickly, so it’s not long before they’re ready to be planted.
Now that my granddaughter brought home her bean,what do we do with? A single plant. Does it need something to climb? Or will it get bushy? We weren’t given any follow up info sadly. HELP
That’s a great question! If you can find out what kind of bean it is, that would be helpful. Some beans are runners and need to be staked or have something to climb, while others don’t. Other than that, just plant it in soil and watch it grow!
I tried this experiment with my class and we have a few moldy plants. We wet the paper towel again every day. Does this mean the plants are dead?
Hi! If you do this experiment again, I suggest just lightly spraying the paper towel with water whenever it feels dry instead of watering them each day. If you soak the beans beforehand, they already have a good bit of water inside them. I also take the top off of the jar after they begin sprouting so air can circulate. Hopefully, doing those two things will stop the mold problem. Good luck!
Suggestions on the bean plant being towering over the cup? Do I need to get dowel rods? I feel bad because my kids are taking them home and I wanted them to be successful .
That’s a great question! Even though the plants stick up over the cup, they’re usually sturdy enough to send home. If you want to give them extra support, you might stick a straw in the cup and gently tie the plant to it. I hope your students have a great experience sprouting seeds!
hi im in 5th grade and when i grow up i will show my children this and might do this for their birthdays
If the seeds have mold, does that mean they are dead? Or can I salvage them?
Additionally, how do I safely transfer them to plant so that students can take home? Do I need a certain type of soil? A pot?
Hi, Alex! Those are great questions. First, if your seeds have mold, I would throw them out and start over. When you try again, here are my tips to avoid mold:
1. Just lightly spray the paper towel with water whenever it feels dry. If you soak the beans beforehand, they already have a good bit of water inside them so they don’t need lots of water. Too much water in the jar or bag will allow mold to grow.
2. Take the top off of the jar after they begin sprouting so air can circulate. If you use zip-top bags, open the bags after the beans sprout.
3. Avoid direct sunlight for long periods. Too much heat inside the jar or bag will cause mold to grow. The beans will still sprout near a window with indirect sunlight.
If you want to plant them for students to take home, use potting soil (not garden soil) and any small plastic container like yogurt cups, bottom half of a water bottle, or other small plastic cups you might have in your recycling bin.
I hope those ideas help! Good luck!
Will pinto beans grow?
Hi, Maria! I’m so sorry I’m just seeing your question! I’m not getting emails when someone posts a comment like I usually do, and I’m not sure why. I haven’t tried pinto beans because I’ve read they don’t sprout as reliably as other beans. It might be interesting for kids to try to grow pinto beans along with other types of beans to see which ones sprout the best.
I have jars without lids. Do I need lids to begin this process?
That’s a great question! You don’t need lids to begin the process. You might put plastic wrap or aluminum foil over the jar for the first few days. I think it’d be interesting for kids to observe a covered jar and one that isn’t. Then, they can see if covering the jar affects growth.
This activity is perfect for children who love to explore what is in store for them in the real world. Thank you so much for sharing this.
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Curricular Materials to Accompany the McIntosh Apple Development Poster Distributed by the Education Committee of the Botanical Society of America Posted March 2001
Grade Levels: 6-8; 9-12
- Create a hypothesis about the effects of light and volume on the growth of mung bean sprouts.
- Observe, describe, and measure growth in mung bean sprouts.
- Record seedling growth in tabular form.
- Analyze data by calculating and graphing average seedling growth rates.
- Draw conclusions from results about the relationships between environment and growth in mung bean sprouts.
Background : A seed contains its own life support system. When stimulated to germinate, seeds use stored food reserves to grow into sprouts. A sprout is a tender, often edible, seedling that is produced following seed germination. As the sprout begins to develop and use up its stored reserves, the seedling needs light and carbon dioxide to continue growth. In this experiment, students will examine how the amount of carbon dioxide and light changes the growth of a mung bean's sprout. The equation of photosynthesis shows the relationships among carbon dioxide, light, and growth:
6 CO 2 + 12 H 2 O --- light ----> C 6 H 12 O 6 + 6 O 2 + 6 H 2 O .
In this expression, C 6 H 12 O 6 represents simple sugars that are used by the plant for energy and structural materials like wood. In other words, they are required for growth. Carbon dioxide ( CO 2 ) is necessary for plants to form those simple sugars. Plants have the capacity to use CO 2 from the atmosphere for this purpose. If students experimentally vary the amount of available carbon dioxide or light, they can observe their effects on plant growth. In this exercise, seedlings are grown in plastic soda bottles. The amount of CO 2 varies with the volume of the bottle and light is manipulated using aluminum foil. Additional volume will allow the seedlings to grow to a greater size. Light will have different effects depending on how long the sprouts are allowed to grow. In all cases, sprouts grown in low light will be longer than sprouts grown in more intense light. However, after the food reserves available in the seed are used up, a plant grown in the dark will cease to grow and will be outgrown by the plants grown in the light. In addition to reinforcing plant science content, this lab expects students to apply the scientific method. After learning basic information about growth and photosynthesis, students formulate a hypothesis about the growth of their mung bean sprouts in different treatments. After they have gathered and compiled the data, students will compare their experimental results to their original hypothesis and draw appropriate conclusions.
- Several 0.5, 1, and 2 Liter empty, clean, and clear plastic soda bottles. Rinse the bottles, but do not wash them in detergent which may inhibit seed germination or growth
- 10 mung bean seeds per student (Mung beans are available in most large grocery stores. However, if they are not, other peas or beans will work fine)
- paper towels
- aluminum foil
- metric rulers
- After giving the students information about plant growth, have them write a hypothesis about the relationship between the experimental variables and plant growth.
- Assign students to a soda bottle size (0.5, 1, or 2 Liter). There should be equal numbers of each size soda bottle distributed among the class.
- Have students place 10 mung beans in their soda bottle.
- Each student should rip one paper towel into several pieces (approximately 1 inch by 1 inch) and place them in their soda bottle.
- Students should fill the cap of their soda bottle with water and pour the water into the soda bottle. No more than this amount of water is required.
- Securely tighten the cap and do not reopened during the experiment.
- Assign the students to light and dark treatments. Each size bottle should have at least two light and two dark treatments.
- Record the treatments.
- Cover dark treatment soda bottles with aluminum foil.
- Place all bottles near the windowsill so the light treatments will receive sunlight. Keep both light and dark treatments to maintain as equal environments within them as possible. However, note that light treatments will be exposed to higher temperatures.
- Each day, have the students measure and record the length of the sprouts to the nearest mm using a metric ruler. Record the length of five sprouts and calculate the average. Record this information. Students will record data for 10 days.
- At the end of each recording for the day, have the students calculate averages for each treatment.
- After 10 days, create a line graph with the x-axis representing time in days and the y-axis growth in length. Use a different line showing averages for each of the treatments. There should be a total of 6 lines.
- Have students draw conclusions from their data and results. They should compare their experimental results to their original hypothesis. If their hypotheses are not supported by their results, encourage students to explore reasons for the lack of support. Do the results lead to new hypotheses? Students (and scientists) learn from experiments that seem to have failed because hypotheses are not supported. Hypothesis testing involves an evaluation of the causes of patterns and observations. One is not always correct about those causes at the outset.
References :
Introductory plant biology books will discuss germination and growth of seedlings. Several are listed below.
Raven, P.H., R.F. Evert, S.E. Eichhorn. 1998. Biology of Plants . Worth Publishers Inc., New York. Stern, Kingsley R. 2000. Introductory Plant Biology , 8th ed. McGraw Hill, Dubuque, IA. Uno, Gordon, R. Storey, and R. Moore 2001. Principles of Botany , 1st ed. McGraw Hill, Dubuque, IA. Burnie, David. 2000. Plant. Dorling Kindersley Eyewitness Books, New York.
For more information about sprouts see the International Sprout Growers Association
This activity is based on an exercise presented by Ken Blom, Niskayuna School District, Niskayuna, NY and was developed and edited by Amy Russel and Steven Rice, Department of Biological Sciences, Union College, Schenectady, NY.
Growing Beans – Science for Kids
Categories Science , Spring , STEM
Growing beans is a wonderfully simple science activity to do with your preschool or kindergarten class. Kids will love watching their own magic beanstalk grow right in front of their eyes.
There’s a reason why growing seeds is classic science for kids. With a little effort, young children can learn about the different parts and the life cycle of a plant.
Disclosure: Adult supervision is required for all activities at all times.
As the weather warms up, now is the perfect time to try some of these Spring activities for kids . I don’t know about you, but there’s something about the change in seasons that gets my kids excited about learning. Or you can invest in the Spring Activity Pack , which is filled with educational ideas for young kids.
Table of Contents
- Materials Needed
Instructions
Faq’s.
- More Spring STEM Activities
Materials needed
- Bean plants
- Cotton balls, or wet paper towel
Growing Beans – Step by Step Instructions
1. soak the beans.
If you’ve bought dried beans from the grocery store, soak them in a bowl of water overnight. This will speed up the entire process and help your plant growth occur a bit earlier.
2. Lay cotton balls on the bottom of your glass jar
Fill the bottom half of your glass jar with cotton wool or a damp paper towel. Either will work wonderfully.
3. Place the beans on the side of the jar.
Putting the beans on the side of the jar makes it easier to watch them as they grow. You’ll be able to see the roots through the glass without any cotton wool getting in the way.
4. Complete by adding more cotton balls
Cover the beans with another layer of damp cotton balls. You only need enough to keep the beans damp, so don’t use too many for your final layer.
5. Find a sunny spot.
Place your bean jar by a sunny window. You don’t want to put them in direct harsh sunshine, because it’ll dry out your beans and inhibit their growth.
6. Watch and wait.
Over the next few days you’ll be able to see the whole process of bean growing in action.
The first roots will develop into more complex root systems. The stems will grow their first true leaves.
Since the jar is glass, your class will be able to see the different stages without any risk of damaging plants as they grow.
7. Plant your beans in the garden.
If you like, plant your seeds in the children’s garden or just a pot of soil. That way your kids will still be able to watch it grow until it’s a mature plant producing its own beans.
What beans are best to grow with children?
There are so many different types of beans that are suitable for this fun project. If you already have fava beans or lima beans at home, then use those. If you need to get some from the shops, then choose lentils or mung beans since they are the fastest to sprout.
When should you try growing beans?
Early Spring is the perfect time of year to try this easy activity. If the weather is too cold then the beans will start to rot before sprouting. If the flowers are starting to bloom outside, then there’s a good chance that your beans will grow too.
More Spring Science Activities for Kids
Here are some more easy science activities that are perfect for spring. These Spring play ideas will delight and fascinate your toddlers and preschoolers.
- Color Changing Flower Experiment
- Butterfly Life Cycle
- Spring Flowers Math Game
- Chromatography Flowers
- Flower Exploration Center
For more ideas, check out these other 20 Spring STEM Activities for Kids .
Spring Activity Pack
Over 90+ pages of Spring themed play based learning activities and craft templates. Perfect for preschool and kindergarten.
Are you going to try Growing Beans with your kids? Don’t forget to pin the idea for later.
Growing Beans Science Activity
Watch as beans sprout into baby plants. This is a wonderful science activity for kids to try this Spring time.
- Soak the beans.
- Lay cotton balls on the bottom of your glass jar.
- Place the beans on the side of the jar.
- Complete by adding more cotton balls.
- Find a sunny spot.
- Watch and wait.
- Plant your beans in the garden.
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Spongy Kids
Sharing kids activities for fun and homeschool!
Indoor Garden Ideas for Kids: Mung Bean Sprouts
Enjoy seeing how the seeds sprouting!
We grew mung bean sprouts for the first time. Crunchy and refreshing, I love to cook them in soup or ramen! I did research the youtube tutorial videos first and seems like a straightforward process. I didn’t want to buy extra stuff for this project, so I upcycled the tofu packages. (Free!!)
**Since it is homemade, mung bean sprouts, to avoid food-borne illnesses like E. coli and salmonella, wash them very well and eat them fully cooked. NOT raw.
What you need.
- Mung bean sprouting seeds (I got it from Amazon)
- Two plastic containers (One for seeds tray with holes, the second one is for the saucer to catch excessive water. No holes.) I used a tofu package for mine. Takeout food containers or clamshell packages might work too. **Wash and clean/sanitize them before use!!
- A small screwdriver or ice pick
- Select-A-Size Paper Towels or napkin
Step by Step
Mung bean sprouting seeds.
I scooped about 1.5 tablespoons of mung beans. Soaked them with water for 24 hours. Some people on the tutorial videos were saying 12 hours should be good too. It’s totally up to you!
Making a container
After we washed and clean them, I made holes in the seeds tray. I recommend making holes from the inside of the container so that the water drains easier. **Let grown-up handle this part. Be careful!!
I made 9 holes.
How to Prepare Containers
I didn’t have another tofu package, so I used my son’s snack container as the saucer for catching excessive water.
Set the saucer underneath. Insert the paper towel to the seeds tray. We just need half the size of the paper towel. Cheesecloth might work too.
24 hours later…
Wow! After the 24 hours bath, the seed looks way BIGGER than the original size!
Replace seeds in the seeds tray and pour some water to soak the paper towel. Dump the excessive water and set the saucer underneath. Some are germinating already!
Cover the seeds
Cover with a towel for growing without lights. I used a cloth napkin (The closest thing I grabbed in my kitchen.) Good night mung beans!
Don’t forget to water them at least twice a day ! Just water them and let them soak for a couple of minutes and dump excessive water.
3 days later…
Already this much progress!! Amazing!! Kinda creepy but cute at the same time :)!! My son was so shocked and screamed!
Plus 2 days later…
Getting so long!! It took just 5 days since we started!
It’s almost the harvesting time? I might wait for one or two more days. We are so excited to eat them!
Tutorial Video
Here is a tutorial video we found on youtube. There are so many methods out there, but all look very easy and fun!
Happy learning!
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Using Mung Beans in the Lab
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Age Ranges:
Mung beans are cheap, reliable and easy to germinate, and offer a useful way to look at the germination process.
- Plant growth : Using hydroponics to explore what plants need to grow. Resource: What do plants need to grow?
- Enzymes : Resource: Phosphatase enzymes in plants
- Idea : Explore whether bean roots always grow downwards
- Idea : Investigate the effect of light on growing seedlings
- Idea : Investigate the effect of water on growing seeedlings
- Idea : Observing sprouting mung bean root hair cells
Teaching Topics
- Plant Growth
- Plant Nutrition
- Hydroponics
Description
Mung Beans, Vigna radiata
Mung beans are legumes (members of the Fabaceae family), and are most commonly used in the UK for growing nutritious bean sprouts. Mung beans are annuals, growing up to about 1m in height. The first flowers appear seven to eight weeks after planting and the crop reaches maturity in 12 to 14 weeks. The mung bean plant comes originally from India, but is now widespread throughout the tropics.
Growing and sourcing
Obtaining : Buy fresh seeds from suppliers including Blades Biological. Seeds must be fresh to germinate.
Propagating : Germinate from seeds. This video demonstrates the germination of mung beans with both cotyledons and roots visible. As demonstrated in the film, mung beans can be planted in a clear tank using a seed compost to observe root formation.
Compost : Use a seed compost for germinating these seeds.
Light : Light is needed only once the cotyledons are ready to open. A windowsill is suitable.
Water : Keep damp without soaking.
Temperature : A warm room is suitable.
Feeding : There’s no need to feed these seedlings.
Notes : Look out for signs of ‘Damping-off” in your seedlings.
- Agriculture and farming
- Cells and tissues
- Nutrient cycles
- Photosynthesis
- Plant growth
- Plant nutrition
- Plant reproduction
- Plant responses
- Respiration
- Plants in the Science Curriculum
Related content
Teaching resources.
- Student Sheet 5 - Investigating Seed Germination
- How Science Works - What do plants need to grow?
- Using Broad Beans in the Lab
- Engage your students with enzymes
What Type Of Bean Seeds To Use For A Science Experiment
If you're interested in plants and biology, a few bean seeds can form the basis of lots of fun science experiments. It's exciting to watch bean seeds sprout and turn into plants. If you don't have bean seeds in your pantry, buy them from your local garden store or supermarket.
TL;DR (Too Long; Didn't Read)
Most types of dried bean seeds are suitable for science experiments such as growing beans in a bag, testing germination rate and working out what factors affect bean seed growth. If you want quick results, go for fast sprouters like lima beans, pinto beans and mung beans.
Growing Beans in a Bag
Growing beans in a bag is a great first lesson in plant biology. You can check the the progress of your seeds every day and witness them transforming into plants with roots on a stem. You need a plastic zip-top bag, a paper towel and a few bean seeds. For this experiment, any variety of dried bean from your pantry will do, but lima beans, pinto beans, mung beans and lentil beans typically sprout the fastest.
Testing Germination Rate
With a variation on the basic zip-top bag experiment, you can test the germination rate of 10 bean seeds. Use a black permanent marker to draw a frame with 10 sections on the bag. Place a moistened paper towel inside the bag, and then place one bean seed in each section of the frame. Make sure you place the bag on a flat surface (in a sunny area) to keep the seeds in place in the frame. Predict how many of the bean seeds will germinate, and then check your prediction after the seeds have germinated. Multiply the number of germinated seeds by 10 to work out the germination rate as a percentage. For example, if six seeds germinated, that's 60 percent of the 10 seeds in the bag.
It doesn't really matter what type of bean seed you use for this experiment, but larger seeds like lima beans are better for younger children's smaller fingers to grasp hold of.
Factors Affecting Bean Seed Growth
A more advanced experiment than growing beans in a bag looks at how different factors affect how a seed sprouts and grows roots. To find out whether seeds grow quicker in soil, put three to four dried bean seeds inside a zip-top bag with a paper towel. Plant another three to four dried bean seeds in a plastic cup filled three-quarters full with potting soil. Place the bag and the cup where they will receive sunlight during the day and monitor their progress. Mung beans are a good choice for this experiment because they are small seeds and can grow in compact places. For variations of the soil experiment, use different amounts of water, sunlight and fertilizer to observe how these factors affect plant growth.
- The Science Kiddo: Growing Beans in a Bag
Cite This Article
Gillespie, Claire. "What Type Of Bean Seeds To Use For A Science Experiment" sciencing.com , https://www.sciencing.com/type-seeds-use-science-experiment-7915838/. 14 May 2018.
Gillespie, Claire. (2018, May 14). What Type Of Bean Seeds To Use For A Science Experiment. sciencing.com . Retrieved from https://www.sciencing.com/type-seeds-use-science-experiment-7915838/
Gillespie, Claire. What Type Of Bean Seeds To Use For A Science Experiment last modified August 30, 2022. https://www.sciencing.com/type-seeds-use-science-experiment-7915838/
IMAGES
VIDEO
COMMENTS
Bean seeds: lima beans, pinto beans, lentil beans, or mung beans work well* Cotton Balls or Paper Towels Plastic Bags (small-medium) Water Bowl for water Tape Window (or place with good lighting) Marker Writing utensil Ruler (optional) *Safety* Adult supervision is recommended throughout this experiment. Bean seeds
I've tried the experiment with and without soaking the beans. Soaking the beans boosts the germination process and you see roots in a day or two. Within ten days, the bean sprouts have a tall stem with leaves growing out of the top of the jar. When I've not presoaked the beans, it took five or six days for the first root to begin to emerge.
Mung beans will sprout overnight on moist paper towel and do not necessarily need to be stored in a dark place. Typical results for this experiment are listed in the table
A sprout is a tender, often edible, seedling that is produced following seed germination. As the sprout begins to develop and use up its stored reserves, the seedling needs light and carbon dioxide to continue growth. In this experiment, students will examine how the amount of carbon dioxide and light changes the growth of a mung bean's sprout.
A fun and easy STEM experiment for toddlers and preschoolers to enjoy this Spring. ... then use those. If you need to get some from the shops, then choose lentils or mung beans since they are the fastest to sprout. When should you try growing beans? Early Spring is the perfect time of year to try this easy activity. If the weather is too cold ...
Mung bean sprouting seeds. Soak beans. I scooped about 1.5 tablespoons of mung beans. Soaked them with water for 24 hours. Some people on the tutorial videos were saying 12 hours should be good too. It's totally up to you! Making a container. After we washed and clean them, I made holes in the seeds tray.
3 types of bean seeds (mung, green, lima) What You Do: Give one of each bean to your child to observe, explaining that each bean has a little opening for water to go inside. Have your little scientist lay a few stacked damp paper towels onto the baking sheet, and put the beans on top. Put a few more stacked damp paper towels on top of the beans.
Growing beans in a bag is an easy and engaging spring science experiment for kids at home or in the classroom. Learn how to grow a seed in a ziplock bag and watch the bean sprouting and growing over the course of several days. This bean experiment will spark the interest of mini scientists of all ages!
Mung beans are legumes (members of the Fabaceae family), and are most commonly used in the UK for growing nutritious bean sprouts. Mung beans are annuals, growing up to about 1m in height. The first flowers appear seven to eight weeks after planting and the crop reaches maturity in 12 to 14 weeks. The mung bean plant comes originally from India ...
For this experiment, any variety of dried bean from your pantry will do, but lima beans, pinto beans, mung beans and lentil beans typically sprout the fastest. Testing Germination Rate With a variation on the basic zip-top bag experiment, you can test the germination rate of 10 bean seeds.