Every spring I teach a unit on seeds and planting. During this unit we learn that plants start from seeds and need sun, water, and food to grow. We go through the stages of growth and parts of a plant. Each year we sprout beans so that they can see the process. I buy a bag of dried lima beans from Wal-Mart and we wrap one bean in a damp paper towel and place it in a zip lock bag. We hang the bags on the window so they can get sun. Most times we have been semi-successful or not at all. The first year they sprouted and we transferred them to cups and they took them home probably to be thrown away. The second year we had such little sun that they all rotted in the baggies, yuck!! Last year we aborted bean sprouting and planted wildflower seeds. Yes, unsuccessful! I decided to plant a few beans just to see. Well one sprouted pretty well so I transferred it to a flower pot and we watched it grow into a pretty large plant and bear little white flowers. We read a book each year called One Bean and it goes through the entire cycle of the bean plant, which we never get to see. Following the little white flowers should appear bean pods. When you break open the bean pods there should be new beans.
Well school ended and we only had little white flowers. I elected to bring the plant home and try to keep it alive. Lance and I have been watering it and sure enough the bean pods appeared. Today I plucked them off and opened them up. I felt an overwhelming joy when I saw 2 of the most beautiful white lima beans ever! Now I can keep them and plant them in the spring to grow more beans. Life Cycles are truly amazing!
It really doesn’t take much to thrill me:)
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