by MaryAnn F. Kohl
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Materials:
large dried beans
bowl of water
strainer
wooden toothpicks
Art Experiment:
1. Soak the beans overnight in the bowl of water.
2. Strain the water off the beans.
3. Stick a toothpick in one bean.
4. Continue sticking beans and toothpicks together to make a structure.
5. When finished, let the bean structure dry overnight.
Variations:
- Build a structure with marshmallows and toothpicks
- Build a structure with balls of clay and toothpicks
- Build a structure with soaked dry peas and toothpicks. Dry.
- Build a structure with fresh peas from the pd and toothpicks. Dry.
Building with beans is a good way to experiment and learn about strong STRUCTURES. BALANCE helps make structures strong. GRAVITY is always “pulling things down” toward the earth. When engineers build structures, they are discovering how to “keep things up.”