Jelly bean natural selection Follow FizzicsEd 150 Science Experiments: Comments 0 You will need: One cup per student Enough jelly beans for about 10 per student Plastic ice cream tub Copyright Instruction 1 Separate the jelly beans into black and coloured ones. 2 Calculate the percentage of black jelly beans by dividing the number of black jelly beans by the total jelly beans and multiplying by 100. Write down your result. If you like, you can create a graph of jelly bean colours. 3 Hand out a cup and five jelly beans for each student. Students pick out only two of their favourites from these five (yes, they can eat them, or just put them aside). 4 Return the remaining three jelly beans to the ice cream tub with the rest of the jelly beans. 5 Repeat this three times. Each student (predator) should have preyed on six jelly beans. Count up the remaining beans, and calculate again the percentage of black beans. If you like, graph your results. 6 School science visits since 2004! – Curriculum-linked & award-winning incursions. – Over 40 primary & high school programs to choose from. – Designed by experienced educators. – Over 2 million students reached. – Face to face incursions & online programs available. – Early learning centre visits too! 7 Online courses for teachers & parents – Help students learn how science really works More Information Black beans have a great survival strategy …as many people dislike the aniseed taste (check the web, there are forums and groups dedicated to the subject!). The natural selection in this case is the students’ preference for non-black beans. More black jelly beans therefore survive predation, or selection, by students. Luckily black jelly beans are unable to pass down their traits to the next generation! Learn more! Teaching about biology? From Plants for Life and Human Body to Digital Microscopy, we’ve got your unit covered! Get in touch with FizzicsEd to find out how we can work with your class. Human Body Years 3 to 6 Maximum 30 students School workshop (NSW only) 60 or 90 minutes Online Class Available Read More Enquire Now STEM Full Day Accelerator - Primary Designed from real classroom experiences, this modular day helps you create consistently effective science learning that directly address the new curriculum with easily accessible and cost-effective materials. Read More Enquire Now Be Amazing! How to teach science, the way primary kids love. $29.95 inc. GST View Details Add to Cart Trustpilot
Calculate the percentage of black jelly beans by dividing the number of black jelly beans by the total jelly beans and multiplying by 100. Write down your result. If you like, you can create a graph of jelly bean colours.
Hand out a cup and five jelly beans for each student. Students pick out only two of their favourites from these five (yes, they can eat them, or just put them aside).
Repeat this three times. Each student (predator) should have preyed on six jelly beans. Count up the remaining beans, and calculate again the percentage of black beans. If you like, graph your results.
School science visits since 2004! – Curriculum-linked & award-winning incursions. – Over 40 primary & high school programs to choose from. – Designed by experienced educators. – Over 2 million students reached. – Face to face incursions & online programs available. – Early learning centre visits too!
Teaching about biology? From Plants for Life and Human Body to Digital Microscopy, we’ve got your unit covered! Get in touch with FizzicsEd to find out how we can work with your class.
Human Body Years 3 to 6 Maximum 30 students School workshop (NSW only) 60 or 90 minutes Online Class Available Read More Enquire Now
STEM Full Day Accelerator - Primary Designed from real classroom experiences, this modular day helps you create consistently effective science learning that directly address the new curriculum with easily accessible and cost-effective materials. Read More Enquire Now
Designed from real classroom experiences, this modular day helps you create consistently effective science learning that directly address the new curriculum with easily accessible and cost-effective materials.
Be Amazing! How to teach science, the way primary kids love. $29.95 inc. GST View Details Add to Cart Trustpilot
This website uses cookies to improve user experience. By using our website you consent to all cookies in accordance with our Cookie Policy.
Thank you for looking to subscribing to our newsletter 🙂 Through this service you’ll be first to know about the newest free experiments, science news and special offers. PLUS: Get a free Kitchen Chemistry Booklet with >20 experiments, how to use variables plus a handy template!
Please fill out the details below and an email will be sent to you. Once you get that just click on the link to confirm your subscription and you're all done!