The Montessori philosophy of education provides children with a rich, experiential learning environment in which concepts come to life through exciting, memorable lessons and experiments. A common misconception is that the Montessori curriculum is only for preschool children. Contrary to this belief, students can enjoy this impressionistic way of learning through middle school.

At The Hockessin Montessori School, the Lower Elementary students (first through third grades), are experiencing the incredible science program that Montessori offers elementary students as they explore advanced concepts in Earth Science.

Montessori philosophy inherently stresses the movement from the concrete to the abstract, as well as movement from the whole picture to the smallest detail. Using this approach, we are able to present the child with a multi-faceted, all-encompassing lesson, such as The Big Bang Theory of Creation. This broad topic leads easily into areas that focus on the Formation of the Galaxies, the Formation of the Solar System, and eventually the Formation of the Earth. “The knowledge he then acquires is organized and systematic” (To Educate the Human Potential by Dr. Maria Montessori) because the lessons lead from the whole picture to small details.

To prepare for the Story of Creation, the children experience a series of experiments called the Laws of the Universe. These experiments make use of the special sensitive period the child has just entered – that of imagination. Maria Montessori believed that imagination is the great power of Elementary children. She stated:

“…Since we are unable to present everything, it is up to the child to use his imagination. The instruction of children from seven to twelve years of age must appeal to the imagination. A configuration of reality must spring from the imagination. It is necessary, therefore, to be strictly precise. … Now what is it that strikes the imagination? Above all, grandeur and, next, mystery. The imagination is then able to reconstruct the whole when it knows the real detail.” (From Childhood to Adolescence)

The principles covered in this series of twenty experiments include the following:

1. Cold – Freezing

2. The Formation of the Star

3. Solid – Liquid – Gas

4. Liquid – Viscous

5. Passing from Solid to Liquid to Gas

6. Passing from Gas to Liquid to Sold

7. Particles that attract each other and particles that do not attract each other

8. Mixture

9. Chemical Combination of Gas

10. Crystallization

11. Chemical Reaction

12. Precipitation

13. Properties of Solid, Liquid, and Gas

14. Elastic, Plastic, and Rigid

15. Matter changes its state at different temperatures

16. Gravity

a. Law of Gravity

b. Density and the Law of Gravity

17. Rapidity of cooling depends on the mass of the bodies

18. Volcano

19. Matter expands when heated

20. Quick Evaporation

At the time of the experiments, the underlying principles are not related to the beginning of the universe, nor the creation of Earth. These experiments act as a foundation to be related back to when the story of creation is given. In addition, many of these experiments can be repeated by the student after the initial introduction to reinforce these concepts.

The Story of Creation begins fifteen billion years ago when everything in the universe was crowded and enormously hot. Then the Big Bang happened. As the universe cooled, gases became liquid and liquids became solids. Various atoms and molecules had a different temperature at which they change states. This event in the creation is tied back to the Laws of the Universe experiments. For example, you would say to the child, “Remember when we performed the experiment Cold – Freezing? We learned that the coldness of the ice is not the coldest temperature”.

The Story of the Creation of the Universe and the Laws of the Universe experiments set the stage for the study of Earth. It is aspects such as this that truly creates a rich learning experience for elementary Montessori students at The Hockessin Montessori School!