Continent Studies

                         

 Maps can be considered doorways to the cultures of the world.  When students learn  to read land and water features on maps and globes, they learn to interpret human activities occurring on the earth.  They can assess a country's major industry, climate, natural obstacles, and political borders, for example.  They can journey to different lands, learning about the indigenous life there and its culture.

Montessori students gain an appreciation of the beauty of our world and the interdependence of all living things that inhabit the earth, through the study of physical and cultural geography.

Ms. Mayte's Primary class at Del Valle is studying the continents, and made their own maps-- tracing and then punching them out in a careful process.  They look great!

 

               A Continent Down Under

 "' Ello Mates!" The Primary/Elementary students at Coronado Montessori had a special guest come to visit.  Mr. Cody Kidwell came to share his adventures in Australia with us.   He brought boomerangs, Australian coins, and other artifacts-- including a real kangaroo leather outback hat!  Mr. Kidwell told the children about landmarks he visited, the animal and plant life in the different biomes of Australia, and the native Australians, the Aborigines.  The children have been learning about the animals of Australia and asked Mr. Cody if he had seen each one that they could name!  When he explained how big a kangaroo was, the children kept asking for comparisons--"Bigger than the shelf?", "Bigger than the table?", "Taller than the door?"  One child summed it up, "A Kangaroo is taller than Diego's Dad?!"  "Wow . . "  they all exclaimed.  Mr. Cody talked about the animals that were venomous, which was a very interesting topic to the children, while a few assured the others that these animals were only in Australia-- "Not here, guys, not here . . . . . ".  Those adorable puggles (see below),  the name for baby platypuses (no, the plural of a platypus is not platypi!), have long spurs on the inside of each hind leg (males only), which contain a venom gland-- with venom strong enough to kill animals and cause excruciating pain to humans!

The cutest question raised, and I say cutest because of what followed, is when a student asked about what language the Australians speak.  After Mr. Cody explained the historical connection to England, and the Queen's English, he said that Australians speak English with an accent.  Living in El Paso, our wonderful, bilingual city, the children were intrigued.  "What kind of accent?", they wanted to know.  Mr. Cody commenced to speak with an Australian accent  (which was pretty accurate)  for the next ten minutes!  The children were charmed, of course, and it was a great ending to a wonderful presentation.