Learning Objectives
Throughout the unit, the students will explore how the indigenous people of the different biomes believe that no element of the natural world exists in isolation. All things are interconnected in the web of life. Students will obtain a reverence for natural order and a sense of thoughtful understanding for their place as overseers of the environment. The goal is to challenge the prevailing culture that humanity is above the laws of nature and entitled to unlimited use of its resources for development. Students will be encouraged to evolve in a more enlightened direction.
Students will be given structure and background before launching into independent research: finding life forms in their assigned biome and paying attention to their adaptations, and investigating indigenous people according to the way they satisfy their basic needs within their biome. Students will also be encouraged to develop a relationship with the natural world and experience it beyond the abstract. First year students will study the tropical forest, second year students will study the grassland, and third year students will study the desert.
This unit will be taught after teaching Montessori’s second and third Great Lessons: The Timeline of Life and The Coming of Humans. The unit will be a part of Montessori’s “cosmic curriculum,” which tells how all living things are connected. The students also will have previously studied their own continent and home biome because it is most familiar to them. The study of North America will be a foundation and a point of comparison for the exploration of Africa, our continent study.
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