This resource is a project covering both the lifecycle of plants and where food comes from. The project involves growing baked beans ingredients and includes different recipes for having a baked bean “bake-off”.  The resource covers the following topics:

• Where does food comes from?
• How does food grow?
• How does climate affect food production?
• How do seasons affect food production?
• How do chemicals affect our food?

Learning outcomes

This resource aims to cover the following experiences and outcomes in the Curriculum for Excellence:

• Biodiversity and interdependence
  • SCN 2-02b: Through carrying out practical activities and investigations, I can show how plants have benefited society.
  • SCN 2-03a: I have collaborated in the design of an investigation into the effects of fertilisers on the growth of plants. I can express an informed view of the risks and benefits of their use.
• Inheritance
  • SCN 2-14a: By investigating the lifecycles of plants and animals, I can recognise the different stages of their development.
• Food and the Consumer
  • HWB 2-35a: When preparing and cooking a variety of foods, I am becoming aware of the journeys which foods make from source to consumer, their seasonality, their local availability and their sustainability.

In this resource

This resource bundle includes:

• Student workbook covering:
  • Activity 1: Conditions for growth experiment (beans)
  • Activity 2: Conditions for growth experiment herbs and tomatoes
  • Activity 3: Repotting the beans
  • Activity 4: Fertilizer experiment
  • Activity 5: Making baked beans
• Teacher manual

This resource was created as part of the GeoScience Outreach Course which is a 4th year undergraduate course in the School of GeoSciences aiming to provide students with the opportunity to develop their own science communication and engagement project.

This resource was originally designed for South Morningside Primary School.

To find more Open Educational Resources from the University of Edinburgh, visit open.ed.ac.uk.

Author: Emma Fairlie, adapted by Stephanie (Charlie) Farley.

This resource is available under a CC BY 4.0 license and has been made available on TES Connect which hosts a range of lesson materials for early years, primary, secondary, and special needs teaching.

Go to ‘The Baked Bean Project’ Fertilisers in Food Production on TES

Cover image Baked beans in tomato sauce by Mk2010 (Wikimedia) is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0