Even very young children want to know 'why?' They seem to ask a thousand questions The cultivation of children's curiosity and imagination is the essence of science in Montessori programs.

The Montessori curriculum is focused on the process and issues of science: the study of life, the laws and structure of the universe, and how humanity has struggled throughout history to put our understanding to practical use. At the same time, we seek to captivate the mind of each child and fill her with a sense of wonder at the grandeur of the universe, the simple beauty of the physical laws, and the miracle of life. To inspire within a child deep sense of the philosophy of science as the process through which humanity has built up our little store of knowledge-asking questions, observing systematically, collecting and analysing data, and controlled experiments-is to prepare the child for a lifetime of learning.

Perhaps no one has ever defined the nature of science better than Albert Einstein:

"Most of the world doesn't have the faintest idea of what science is. They think it is all madmen in white coats creating amazing new inventions. But science isn't a thing at all-like electricity or gravity or atoms. Those are subjects that might be studied in a scientific manner, but science is the process itself-the process of studying them, or anything else, for that matter. It is a process for arriving at conclusions about what is probably true, and what is probably not. That is all science is. Its end product is simply reliable information.

The problem of knowing what to believe-what is true and what is not-is surely the most important problem that the human race has been grappling with for as long as it has existed. How many '-isms' and '-ologies' have been invented, all purporting to have the answer? And what were their answers worth?

Most systems set out to prove or rationalize something that they have already made their minds up about already. But this is a hopeless way to proceed if you really want to know the truth. Science doesn't do that. Its goal is to understand what the world is truly like-and it accepts that whatever the reality is, it will be totally uninfluenced by what you or I might choose to think, or by how many others we might persuade to agree with us. The truth isn't impressed and doesn't care. This is why scientists pay little heed to the skills of debate. We leave those to lawyers and theologians. The eloquence and emotional appeal of the way ideas are presented has nothing to do with whether they are correct or not.

Science is nothing but what we call 'common sense'. Since the purpose is to understand the world as it really is, and not to persuade anybody of anything in particular, there is no place in science for deception, especially unconscious self-deception. The scientist cannot get away with fooling himself. Because all that will happen at the end of the process if you fail to detect your errors is that your aeroplane will not fly. The laws of nature, you see, cannot be deceived. So there is a strong underlying ethical principle woven into the very fabric of the scientific process-something which is all too often overlooked. Would it not be wonderful if the same were true in certain other fields of human activity?"

Albert Einstein

The Life Sciences

Years ago, the great naturalist, Sigur Olsen, wrote:

"The forest is my physician. It prescribes a most effective medicine for my health and soul. It is also my finest library, museum, and classroom. I learn from it something new each day. It is a sanctuary that grants me great peace of mind and spirit. I am refreshed, and feel part of the fabric of all that is, and ever was."

All children love to be out-of-doors, to wander about, to climb trees, to pick flowers or berries, or to play with a dog. They enjoy working in the garden or feeding small farm animals. Years ago, this sort of contact with nature was taken for granted; but today, when so many families live in apartment complexes or neighbourhoods almost totally cut off from the world of nature, Montessori schools have the rare opportunity to provide a missing ingredient that is essential for the development of the child's personality.

Montessori classes work on small gardens, window boxes, or tubs in which flowers and vegetables can be grown. Likewise, classes have classroom pets and sometimes even share some responsibility for the care of small farm animals, such as ducks, chickens, rabbits. At Barrie, we raised pigs, sheep, goats, and horses.

Experiences in the outdoors are equally valuable. Classes go out for meandering 'nature' walks on a regular basis in every season. Learning to dress appropriately and clean the mud off one's boots is an important element of practical life.

Students are encouraged to learn the names of all the local trees, flowers, birds, and animals that they see. They learn to recognize familiar trees by their leaves, bark, and seeds. By looking at animal tracks, they can determine which animals live in the area.

Back in the classroom, they pursue their investigations using a wide variety of charts and displays, "research" materials, and reference books. Students collect specimens and bring them back to the classroom for identification, labelling, and display in the nature 'center' or 'museum'. They collect leaves, which can be pressed or preserved as leaf skeletons. They learn the botanical names for the different leaf shapes.

In spring and early summer Montessori students study the local wild and domestic flowers, comparing different species and counting petals, and stamens. In the fall they look for fruits, nuts, and berries, noticing how they are distributed and what animals look to them as food. Caterpillars are brought back to the classroom and kept in terrariums so that the children can see the chrysalis that they form and the moth or butterfly that emerges. In the spring, they hatch frog eggs and watch them turn into tadpoles before releasing them in the pond. Incubators allow them to hatch baby chicks and witness one more miracle of life.

We emphasize the need to treat every living thing with care. Leaves and flowers are never aimlessly picked and thrown away. We gather them only for good purpose, and never over pick any one plant. Fresh wildflowers are either dried, pressed, or placed in a vase with water to preserve them as long as possible. We walk gently upon the Earth, taking only what we need.

We consciously work to develop within our students an attitude of stewardship of the Earth: caring for wilderness and pockets of nature within the city or suburb to preserve them for the future. We want them to enjoy the forest and meadows, and leave nothing behind except a pleasant memory or two. We teach our students not to litter, and, if they see it on the ground, to pick it up and carry it with them until they can throw it away. This is especially true of bottles, broken glass, cans, and plastic bags, which are not only unsightly but could also harm the animals. Typically, after Montessori students have passed, the land will be more free of trash and pollution than before we passed.

We teach our children that we must always have a '"reverence for life"; that we are all "Erdkinder - a Dutch term which translated means "The Children of the Earth."

Our lives stem from the Earth. We are part of the web of life, totally dependent on the delicate balance of the natural world for our own existence. Often children learn to think of the soil as 'dirt,' a word that implies something nasty to most of us in America. We teach them to respect good, rich soil, and all the life that it supports on our planet.

Similarly, we never present the impression, held by most of our grandparents, that "nature is red in tooth and claw," or that evolution implies survival of the fittest through ruthless cruelty and destruction of other species.

We want to give the more accurate impression of a beautiful, and sometimes delicate, balance in nature. We have to accept that death is a necessary part of the scheme of things, and that the carnivores have an important part to play. But this does not mean that animals are cruel or that their victims are wretched. It is not the fiercest animals who are the most successful and widely distributed, but those that are the most intelligent, most social, and best able to adapt themselves to the environment.

The relationship between all living things to their environment is carefully studied at each age level. Every plant and animal is affected by the climate, soil, and geographical features of its environment, as well as by the other plants and animals that live there. Each one strives to feed, grow, and reproduce itself. Dr. Montessori felt that we should teach children that this activity in nature is not really a struggle or fight between species or individuals, but their purpose and task. Each creature lives for its own survival, but at the same time, its life and death help to preserve the balance of nature.

We first teach our students to recognize and appreciate the plants and animals that live here in Bermuda. Through books, films, and visits to the Aquarium, we widen their horizons to look at how life has adapted to all the regions of our planet.

Literature abounds with marvellous descriptions of wilderness by great naturalists, which are incorporated into our curriculum at every level. Works like The Year of The Pond or Born Free may be too difficult for young children to read on their own, but they hold great fascination when read aloud by their teachers. Older students read works like Rachel Carson's Silent Spring and Aldo Leopold's Sand County Almanac. There are also many beautiful films and videos that portray the environments and life of our planet.

Most children also love to study the strange, mysterious, and somewhat frightening side of the animal kingdom. There is a wonderful fascination surrounding the study of dinosaurs, sabre- toothed tigers, and woolly mammoths. Animal camouflage, defensive behaviour, or predatory techniques are equally appealing, particularly when children can see it first hand.

We use a wide variety of games and learning activities, taken directly from the outdoor education and camping movements, to introduce children to new ideas in an interesting process of independent discovery. These games and activities simulate the world of nature or provide directions for observing, sampling, charting and analysing data, and thus allow the children to discover first-hand the concept at hand in a way that they may never forget.

As did our grandfathers, we prepare museums of nature lore. In our classrooms, we establish display shelves for our labelled collections of dried plants, seeds, flowers, beehives, bird nests, eggs, snake skins, tree sections, samples of familiar tree wood, spring buds, cocoons, mounted insects, and preserved animal bones and specimens. At the same time, we establish within our museum a place for permanent and temporary living guests: a "Dew Drop Inn." Here we find ant farms, chameleons, newts, a piece of rotting log (securely enclosed in an aquarium so its residents don't escape as they wake up), lake bass and turtles, and root boxes (planters with one wall of glass, so you can see the roots growing).

Older children begin to keep journals of their observations of classroom animals and write poems and stories that attempt to capture the sense of wonder and beauty all around us. They listen to music that evokes the world of nature (three examples being the "Grand Canyon Suite," "Appalachian Spring," and the "Moonlight Sonata"). As they get older, they begin to paint and photograph nature, from the sweeping landscape to the isolated flower or mushroom. And finally, we work with natural materials to produce traditional handcrafts, as our ancestors did: making natural dyes, jewellery from seeds, mosaics from stones, cornhusk dolls, and hand-built pottery.

The more formal elements of biology are taught as well, particularly at the upper elementary levels. Dr. Montessori found that systematic knowledge allows one to discriminate details among species, literally to see on a whole new level. Therefore, we introduce the student to the classification of the plant and animal kingdom. The study of the internal and external anatomy of plants and animals likewise gives children a new level of awareness and sensitivity in their observation and study of life. They compare different anatomical systems among species, such as the eyes, teeth, hooves, and claws of various animals. They come to ask questions: "Why did the horse evolve this sort of teeth or this form of foot?"

All in all, we try to instil in every one of our students a philosophy of mankind's beautiful relationship to the Earth.

There is beauty all around us, and it must be protected and cherished. It is so easy to find in the patterns of the waves lapping the sand, the curve of a gull's wing, in the angry force of a storm front moving in from the north, or in the changing moods of a mountain lake. All around us we can seek and find peace and loveliness.

As we walk beside the ocean and feel its majesty, we can teach our children to appreciate why we wish to preserve nature for us all. As we walk through a silent forest, we can sense an atmosphere just like a cathedral. There is grandeur of scale that leaves us filled with awe. These things are ours to have, enjoy, and share with our children, so long as we care enough to recognize their importance, and take the time to preserve them and weave them tightly into the pattern of our curriculum. They are an essential element of an education at The Montessori Academy.

Ultimately, our goal in the sciences is to cultivate not only the imagination, intellect, and reason, but also the poet and perpetual sunset watcher and greeter of the dawn.

Physical Science

The young child wants to know how things work, but he doesn't want theoretical explanations. He would prefer a brief lesson, which leads up to an assigned task and a question to be answered. Physical science is for the most part made up of hands-on experiments, pulled together by special lessons designed to give the child an impression of the big picture. While elementary Montessori students will be introduced to sophisticated concepts of physics and chemistry, we certain don't expect them to work with them at a secondary level of comprehension. Lessons are chosen for their clarity and appeal. We give the child directions for carrying out the experiment, but avoid giving explanations. Instead, we wait for them to ask. Once their curiosity is peaked, they often want to know everything. Here is where classroom reference books and the library are essential.

Between the ages of 5 and 12, children love to work with scientific apparatus. They delight in seeing mixtures change colour, testing liquids with litmus paper, experimenting with small electrical circuits, or building models of atomic compounds. They don't normally understand the principles behind the process at a sophisticated level; they just like to 'see what will happen'. If you put a flower stem in red ink, or plant a bean upside down, they will watch with fascination.

The goal, as with all science, is to teach both the scientific method and techniques for safely working with science equipment.

Children at this age don't see experimental work as a burden, but rather as an interesting activity. To a large degree, they like to relate their experiments to nature, geography, and practical life, rather than to theoretical physics and chemistry. For example, in distilling pure water from salt water, they can show how sea water and sweet water are different, and begin to sense how the water cycle works.

The equipment for experimental science for the elementary age child need not be elaborate. The experiments should be simple and safe enough that they can usually be done by the children working without the teacher. Prepared experiment cards giving them directions, along with the collected equipment, works well for most students.

Sometimes, more complex experiments should be presented to first by the teacher, and the students allowed to repeat it on their own. Depending on space, it is often possible to set up two or more separate experiments side-by-side at a time.

Students should learn from the beginning to observe and record what takes place during their experiment. This is most often done by filling out a teacher prepared laboratory investigation report.

An important extension of this work is the experiment designed and carried out by the student. We discourage random tinkering, especially with chemicals. Students should be taught first how to plan a proposed experiment in writing, including the hypothesis of what she believes will happen. As the experiment is carried out, she records everything that she observes.

It is possible to teach some important basic concepts of physics and chemistry at the elementary level: such as the structure of atoms and molecules, the difference between elements and compounds, the chemical composition of familiar compounds, the three states of matter, and chemical and physical change. Students also enjoy doing research about the elements, and a first exposure to Mendelev's table of the elements.

© 1996 The Montessori Foundation