I just repeated this lesson from a few years ago. Students DO NOT FORGET this lesson and will beg for more. This is great for a day when student’s attention span will be minimal such as the holiday season.
This lesson will take you about 30 minutes or you could stretch it out if you like. First warn by saying, “Do not stick these up your nose or in your mouth! Do not mash these.” (my warning comes, of course, from a student who did stick one in his mouth.)
Give each child one Mexican jumping bean. Tell them to lay it on the table and observe.
On paper, ask them what they think the mystery item is. Some will answer what they think it is. Common responses I have heard are a nut, an acorn, a rock.
On paper ask them if it moves. By this point they will probably have discovered it moves because another student will probably have exclaimed that it moved.
On paper, ask students to explain why they think it moves.
Have the children draw a picture of what they think the mastery item looks like on the inside. I never call the object the master items until after I have shown them the story.
Show students the Mexican jumping bean story.
Bask in the fact that you are currently the children’s hero for bringing something so cool to look at.
Where do you get these beans you ask. You can actually get them off of Amazon. Mexican grocery type stores most likely also have them, but I got mine from Amazon here.
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