Place the beans into the bowl and cover them with lukewarm water about 2 inches higher than the beans. Allow the beans to soak for approximately eight hours.
Prepare the 1-quart containers to use as bean planters. Place the container on its side and cut away the top of the container with the scissors to leave a planter. Poke at least eight holes in the bottom of the planter with the scissors for drainage.
Cut a piece of paper towel to cover the bottom of the planter to prevent soil from escaping through the drainage holes.
Fill the planter halfway with potting soil.
Drain the beans and instruct the students to plant two beans in each planter. Place the beans so that one is in one half of the planter and the other bean is in the other half. Cover the beans with 1/2-inch of potting soil.
Water the soil generously to saturate the soil and place the planter in a shallow dish to catch the draining water.
Cover half of the planter with duct tape to prevent light from reaching one bean seed.
Place the planters in a sunny spot and keep the soil on both halves of the container moist; peel back the duct tape to water and then reattach it to the planter.
Encourage students to form a hypothesis about which bean seed will grow the fastest and strongest. Students should record their observations of each bean seed and plant to compare growth.
Continue to water the soil and watch the bean plants as they grow. The bean plant with exposure to sun should be the healthier, stronger and taller of the two plants. The bean plant without light will not grow as quickly.
Instruct the students to remove the duct tape from the planters about one week after the plants emerge from the soil. Students should continue to water and observe the plants. The bean plant that did not have light should gain strength and look healthier after getting exposure to light.
Have students observe the plants and record their observations in their notebooks. Students should form a hypothesis about why the second bean plant was unhealthy and then became stronger after they removed the duct tape.