Montessori education is a holistic education that takes into consideration children’s connection to their environment. Understanding other living organisms is essential in many aspects. Therefore, the study of zoology takes place in the early years of primary school, around age three. Children are informally introduced to a series of pegged puzzles representing the five groups of vertebrates: fish, bird, amphibian, reptile, and mammal. This post will highlight the essential materials to get started with the study of zoology!
There are various materials to support the Montessori zoology curriculum that can be incorporated into the culture and science area of a classroom. However, the most important ones are the Vertebrates Puzzles.
Materials
- Parts of a Bird Puzzle with Nomenclature Cards (3-6) (Premium Quality)
- Parts of a Fish Puzzle with Nomenclature Cards (3-6) (Premium Quality)
- Parts of a Frog Puzzle with Nomenclature Cards (3-6) (Premium Quality)
- Parts of a Horse Puzzle with Nomenclature Cards (3-6) (Premium Quality)
- Parts of a Tortoise Puzzle with Nomenclature Cards (3-6) (Premium Quality)
- Cabinet for Zoology Puzzles (Premium Quality)
- Classroom mat
Optional: Vertebrates Study – Complete Curriculum (Elementary), Life Cycle of Vertebrates Study – Complete Curriculum
Puzzles and Charts
In a Montessori classroom, you will find all five groups of vertebrates puzzles nested in a wooden cabinet. At the very beginning of their time in a primary classroom, children can already explore these puzzles by taking them apart and putting them together using the pegs. The puzzles give children an experience where they can distinguish each part of the animal in isolation from its whole. The pegs provide opportunities to refine the three-pincer grip, which is critical at this age. Children are encouraged to use a mute chart to superpose each piece. This practice gives them ample opportunity to exercise visual perception and eye-hand coordination. Later, it is possible for them to use the Movable Alphabet to encode the names of each part.
Three-part Nomenclature Cards
In addition to the puzzles, children are presented with a series of three-part cards, known as the Nomenclature Cards, which correspond to the parts of the animal. Each set of three-part cards consists of one control card (picture/name), one picture card, and one label card (name). Throughout their time at the primary level, children will be invited to work with the three-part cards, which are aligned vertically and matched. Three-part cards are ingenious. Younger children who cannot yet read none phonetic works are able to match the label card to the control card. This method allows children to enter the realm of literacy and reinforces word recognition skills implicitly. In addition, matching two identical images or words is considered a one-on-one correspondence work, which consists of pairing alike things and is a foundational math skill.
Nomenclature Charts
All Nomenclature Cards such as the Parts of a Frog Puzzle Nomenclature Cards set consists of three-part cards, a booklet, a large control chart, a reproducible blackline master, and a reproducible booklet. The three-part cards are introduced using the three-period lesson. The control chart can be left on the wall after having introduced the materials. The chart helps reactivate the newly acquired knowledge, which with long-term retention. The reproducible blackline master is a fun hands-on activity that children can color and label. For younger learners, you can use dotted-line letters for them to trace. Older children can create their own booklet using the reproducible booklet provided. Simply make several copies that you can make available for children. They can be invited to color a specific part of the diagram and write the name of the part.
Nomenclature Booklets
The set of Nomenclature Cards also includes two booklets: one colorful spiral-bound booklet, and a reproducible copy of the booklet. Older children can create their own booklet using the reproducible booklet provided. Simply make several copies that you can make available for children. They can be invited to color a specific part of the diagram and write the name of the part.
Extensions
Other ways to augment the children is by offering extensions interconnected to other content areas such as sensorial, practical life, math, language, art, geography, and botany. For instance, you can have children provide care for a pet. You can create craft activities using playdough, salt dough, painting, or mixed media, recite poems, or sing songs about specific animals. In language, you might offer a set of cards depicting different kinds of an animal (tortoise, sea turtle, box turtle….) You can include literature about vertebrate animals, and have life cycle materials (check out our new life cycle puzzles and figurines!)
The zoology materials are designed to correlate with other content areas in the Montessori program, but can be included in any school- or home-based learning environment! They are autodidactic materials, which means they don’t require much intervention from an adult and can be used by a child independently. The materials grow with the child and are perfectly appropriate for ages three through six. You may want to check out our new extension works, Internal Parts of the Vertebrate Puzzles, for experienced learners!
For more information and Montessori materials, visit our website at www.alisonsmontessori.com
