Do Something Cool! Plant a Soybean....Read and do STEM experiments

Here's a fun project for K-5 to learn about soybeans - one of our US staple crops.

First of all:
Buy Coolbean the Soybean book by Shawn Conley and read to your class.

 

I learned a lot about soybean production and products from the Coolbean book - and talking to agronomists, crop and soil scientists at the US Science and Engineering Festival last week.

What products do we get from soy? And where do soybeans grow?

I bought some soybeans at the grocery store, fresh green edamame.  The packet said they were from Indonesia.  The edamame beans tasted good and crunchy in my salad.  But I wondered why we imported them when we grow soybeans in Virginia and Maryland too? What are the reasons for the global soybean trade?



Do some soybean experiments
How about doing some cool soybean experiments?
Find ideas online at http://coolbeanthesoybean.org/

Here's a few experiments you could do with your students, 3-5 grade and some soybeans.

Test the strength of your seedlings
See Seed Lifting Power

Sample pods
Then when you harvest your beans, do a random sampling.  How many beans are usually in a pod?

Make soynut butter
Buy some soynuts (dried beans) - and blend to make soynut butter.
Do another experiment - taste it.  Do you like it?

Experiment Extensions:
See other experiments on the Coolbean website pages: http://coolbeanthesoybean.org/

Talk about staple crops - and design your own
 - read Weslandia by Paul Fleischman and design your own staple crops (see Junior Master Gardeners Literature in the Garden curriculum)

And look out for kudzu bugs on your beans!
If you find any - please report any sightings to your local Cooperative Extension office.
Click for details




Grow soybeans
I planted 8 soybean seeds outside today in a container.

I will watch the seedlings grow.
Maybe I will get some beans to make edamame salads later on in the summer?
I am also going to plant some soybeans indoors as that can be done anytime of year.

Growing Stories: Literature in the Garden

It's time to register for this year's NSTA National Science Teachers Association Conference http://www.nsta.org/conferences/national.aspx that will be in Boston in April.

One of the four conference strands will be focused on Science and Literacy: A Symbiotic Relationship.

Today I wrote a conference proposal for our regional NSTA and VA Office of Environmental Educators conference that will be held in Richmond VA in October 16 - 18 2014.
My conference proposal theme is Growing Stories: Literature in the Garden.

Do you want to talk with elementary-age students about utopias, languages and designing your own culture and staple crop?
Read Paul Fleishman's inspirational Weslandia

And check out associated activities in Junior Master Gardener's Literature in the Garden curriculum.
Here's a second grader's design for a staple crop...

Interested in teaching Native American culture, ecology and biodiversity with your class of 8-year olds?

Read Susan Jeffer's Brother Eagle Sister Sky.
And weave a Web of Life with your class using the activity plan from Junior Master Gardeners Literature in the Garden.

Examples of these classes are blogged on:
Arlington Traditional School's Gardening Blog:
Read Weslandia and Design New Staple Crops Second Grade 11/22/2011
Brother Eagle, Sister Sky  Second Grade 3/27/12

For further suggestions on environmental-themed literature for children:
Check out award-winning books from the Junior Master Gardeners and American Horticultural Society's "Growing Good Kids Book Awards"...
Cultivate reading in your garden!