Hooked on Science: Make Mexican jumping beans jump

Children young and old have played with Mexican jumping beans for more than 60 years. You can learn more about these unique beans by using a heat lamp.

Materials

* Mexican jumping beans

* Heat lamp

Instructions

n STEP 1: Place several of the Mexican jumping beans on a table.

* STEP 2: Shine the heat lamp on the beans.

Explanation

The Mexican jumping beans jump because there is a tiny caterpillar larva inside each seed pod. When the temperature gets too hot, the caterpillar larva snaps its body to make the seed pod jump. Once the caterpillar larva jumps to a cooler spot, it will not move as much. The basic needs of the Mexican jumping beans are discovered inside the seed pod. Few caterpillars inside the seed pods ever become moths. Most die naturally inside the seed pod.

Jason Lindsey is a science outreach educator with Hooked on Science. Check out his website www.hookedonscience.org for webcasts and experiments that might get you hooked on science. Send him your science questions at jlindseyhookedonscience.com. More science experiments can be found at www.semissourian.com.