Geography

Montessori geography seeks to connect the student to the world in which he or she lives and, even further, to our universe. The study of geography allows children to see how the existence of any one thing on earth affects the existence of all other things on earth. We come to this by knowing what exists, being able to name them, and understand them. We also need to know what forces outside of the earth affect the earth. This creates the foundation by which we come to understand how everything is interrelated.

Geo refers to the earth and graph means to write. In geography, we describe our earth. We describe all its characteristics both physical and political attributes. We also discuss the people who live upon the earth.

In the elementary classroom, we help the children organize their sensorial impressions of geography that they have experienced previously. Their experiences have occurred both in the Montessori primary class and in their own lives. They need to know how all things are related and work together. For example, the land and water forms that they already know so well and now they can research how they interact dynamically, as in the mountain’s surface erosion during a rainstorm.

At High Desert Montessori Charter School , the children will experience and experiment with the facts that underlie natural science. They can experience the relationships of things and matter and that these relationships have names and processes specific to them. They experience the order of the universe. The scientific method allows for our theories to be proven and time allows our proofs to become the laws that we depend upon for our logical thought. The child develops mental images of these proofs and laws; these images will form the content of their mind. This allows them to conceptualize things without them being present. This is the power to reason. It is the ability to imagine the relationship of things. Another result is that the child develops responsibility. Once we know something then we are more apt to take responsibility for it. It is the natural outcome of knowing something well enough to understand deeply. Once we appreciate the limited quantity of water on the earth and how it is delivered to us, we come to be more careful of water consumption. Our appreciation will bring us to more conscious stewardship.

THE MONTESSORI SYLLABUS FOR GEOGRAPHY

THE UNIVERSE: ITS MATTER AND ITS LAWS

The Story of the Big Bang Theory and the Laws of Matter

The story, including illustrations of demonstrations

and charts accompanying the story

Notes on the story

COMPOSITION OF THE EARTH

The layers of the earth and their functions Relative thickness of the layers

Attraction: Gravity

Idea of gravity

Liquids settle according to their weight

With movement, different materials arrange themselves

according to their weight.

Different Ways of Combining

Combining

Mixture

Suspension

Solution

Chemical Changes

Separating

Separating a mixture

Separating a suspension

Separating a solution

Separating a compound (attempt)

Saturation and crystallization

Three States of Matter

Solid

Model of a solid

Solids will not let you pass

Liquid

Model of a liquid

Liquids let you pass

Liquids take the shape of their container

Gas

Model of a gas

Gases let you pass

Gases move in all directions to take up available space

Which way do they push?

Solids push only down

Liquids push sideways and down.

Gases can push upwards

States of Matter – Further Details

Temperature affects the states of matter

Liquids (fluid, viscous)

Liquids – temperature affects viscosity

Solids – rigid, elastic, plastic

Each solid can be rigid, elastic, plastic

Composition of the Earth, Further Details

The layers of the Earth, Further Details

Solid Crust (granite, basalt)

Plastic Mantle

Liquid/solid core

Continental Drift and its effects – plate tectonics

Isostatic Balance

THE SUN AND THE EARTH

Introduction

Relative proportion of the earth to the sun

The planets of our solar system (inc. revolution & rotation)

The radiation of the sun upon the earth

Effect of the Earth’s Rotation

Parts of the Day (one rotation of the earth around its axis)

Hottest/coldest parts of the day (one rotation of the earth)

Work chart for time zones – clock times in different zones

Work chart for time zones – global sunrise and sunset

Lines of latitude and longitude

The International Date Line

The story of Ferdinand Magellan

Earth is a sphere

Hottest/coldest parts of the Earth

The sun’s rays strike earth at different angles

because the earth is a sphere

Perpendicular rays are more concentrated

than non perpendicular rays

Perpendicular rays lose less energy to the atmosphere

Effect of the Earth’s Revolution

Solstices, equinoxes, and the seasons

Unequal day and night

There is a 24-hour day or night at the Poles

Effect of unequal day and night

Solstices and equinoxes

Dates of solstices and equinoxes and the length of the seasons

Tilt of the axis of the earth

Temperate zones

Work charts

Work chart for temperature zones

Work chart for temperature variation in zones

Work chart for the seas

NOMENCLATURE ASSOCIATED WITH PHYSICAL/ POLITICALGEOGRAPHY Making clay models: mountains, isthmus, archipelago, peninsula, island, cape,

Classified Nomenclature, including description of activities

Pin Maps of all continents and their countries: including famous rivers, mountains, important features and major cities

Outline Maps for child use in research

Making paper models of geographic features: Comparative Geography

WORK OF AIR Prelude to work of air

Air Occupies Space

Air Can Move

Heated Air Rises and is Replaced By Cooler Air

Work of Air

Air Insulates

Wind Is Moving Air That Circulates In A Pattern

Global Winds

Deflection and Names of Some Planetary Winds

Interaction of Heated Land/Water and Wind

Sea/Land Breeze

The Changing Seasons and Winds

Work Chart for Winds (Work Chart, Arrows, Sun/Dates)

Interaction of Heat, Water, And Wind

What Is Rain? What Is Seasonal Rain?

Local Conditions For Rain

Ocean Currents

Wind Erosion

WORK OF WATER

The River: Preliminary To Work of Water

The River Model

Sedimentation

Parts Of A River

A River Flows From Highland to Lowlands

Rivers Of The Child’s Own Continent And Of The World

Work Of Wate

Erosion by the Land by the Water

Erosion by the Rain

Erosion by the Waves

Erosion by Ice

Work Of Water, Further Considerations

The Water Cycle

Vegetation in Different Zones

People In Different Zones

Location of Cities in North America

INTERDEPENDENCIES OF HUMAN BEINGS IN SOCIETY

How Do We Get Our Food?

What Does the Farmer Produce?

Whom Does the Farmer Need?

The Flow of Goods

The Collection Bowl

ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY

Introduction

What Is Produced? Where?

How Much Is Produced? Wheat

How Much Do We Consume? Milk

Comparison of Consumption and Production

World Trade

Trade Balance and The Flow of Money