Classification is always a fun unit for me and my students. They come into 7th grade already understanding the six kingdoms and we get to delve more deeply into the levels of taxonomy. We also get to investigate how dichotomous keys are used to classify organisms. Dichotomous keys can be tricky and daunting, depending on the difficulty level. So, I always start out with a straight-forward, tasty one. Well.... tasty or icky, to be precise.
We delve into our first classification lesson, by using Bernie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, from Harry Potter. Each table group gets ten different beans, some yummy, and some not so yummy. I sort them the night before, making sure to have similar colors and patterns, to throw them off. They have one of each, tasty and yucky, for most color patterns. The legend tricks them into thinking they have cherry or watermelon, when actually they have dirt or sausage.
They won't know which flavor they actually have,
until after they go through the key and identify it. So they have to take a bite. This activity not only gets them familiar with a dichotomous key, it reinforces the importance
of using all of our senses, to identify and classify objects around us. Plus, the anticipation of finding out if they got a 'good' bean or 'bad' bean is hilarious to watch.
This is a very engaging lesson. I choose to use this particular brand, of jelly bean even though its a bit pricey, because they are
animal product free and I have many vegan and vegetarian students. This guarantees most of them, who are allergy free, can partake, in the excitement of the activity. It takes about 30 minutes to complete all ten beans and then there are a few reflection questions at the end.
This is a lesson they always remember and former students always come back around this time of year, to see if I have any extra beans. It is a fun, engaging way to introduce classification and dichotomous keys and it is definitely, a cool conversation starter. I love walking around and talking to the groups, as they are tasting the beans. We laugh a lot and this sets the tone for our classroom culture.
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