Teacher Notes

Note to teacher:

The Bean Files has received funding to expand this section in 2001.

Please come back for ideas for lesson plans, activity sheets and information about how The Bean Files activities link to student outcome statements.

Any feedback or suggestion is welcome. Teacher and student feedback allows us to produce a resource which better meets your needs; it is also essential for continued funding. Please send comments or suggestions to: khaq@cyllene.uwa.edu.au

What is The Bean Files?

The Bean Files is a unique teaching and learning resource for upper primary students which will assist in the development of reading, writing, numeracy and investigative skills and understandings.

Its content relates to the following learning areas:

• Science
• English
• Mathematics
• Health and Physical Education
• Society and the Environment
• The Arts
• Technology and Enterprise

The Bean Files is based around 20 story episodes supported by songs, recipes, quizzes, web-links, science experiments, and class-room activities. The topics unearth questions vital to our very existence by digging into life and death struggles occurring on farms daily in the challenge to grow delicious, nutritious food while taking care of the land that produces it.

The Bean Files clearly shows the interdependence of life forms, and encourages students to explore and understand interactions between plants, animals and people.

The Bean Files can be used in many ways. You can select particular areas for focus during a single classroom period or use The Bean Files to develop cross-curriculum learning experiences over a term or even the whole year.

The problem solving approach used gives students opportunities to:

• Investigate
• Collect and analyse data
• Evaluate results
• Prepare reports
• Give feedack
• Answer questions about the natural world
• Reflect on and analyse approaches to particular challenges
• Formulate and evaluate their own plans and findings and
• Communicate conclusions.

Students and teachers can contact The Bean Files team by email (khaq@cyllene.uwa.edu.au) to share their new-found knowledge, experimental results, experiences and creative writing skills with others. Student work is published regularly on our web-site.

Learning outcomes that individual students address will vary according to the activity chosen and the students' levels of achievement. All participants will gain experience in:

• visualising consequences,
• thinking laterally,
• testing options and
• understanding physical, biological and technological components of their world so that they are better prepared for decision-making.

Who We Are

The Bean Files was created by the Education Program of the Centre for Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture (CLIMA) and funded by farmers through the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC).

For more information contact:

Mrs Krys Haq
Beanfiles Coordinator
CLIMA
The University of Western Australia
Nedlands, Perth, Western Australia 6907
ph: 61 8 9380 2505
fax: 61 8 9380 1140

see the topics covered and skills developed page.