Early in the Fall, Montessori elementary learners are invited to discover how the Universe developed, which begins the Montessori History Curriculum. A series of Five Great Stories along with Impressionistic Charts, and experiments are introduced. The First Great Story, developed by Dr. Montessori, counts the creation of the Universe, including the Solar System, and the Earth. The Second Great Story introduces the Coming of Life. The adult tells the Story of the Earth using the Long Black Line, and Clock of Eons/Eras. These components help build a foundation for introducing the Timeline of Life Chart. In effect, children will have had prior preparation through their primary education. They will have studied the First Knowledge of animal and plants, and will have been presented with the Long Black Line and the Clock of Eons. The Timeline of Life Chart represents the few last hours on the Clock of Eons, therefore, it is important that children have a solid understanding of the Clock of Eons.
Materials
The Timeline of Life Complete Set (Cloth) includes:
- Control Chart
- Mute Chart
- 142 Decals/Cutouts of the Components from the Control Chart (animals, plants, geological components, labels, etc.)
- Printed Research Cards (optional: cut and laminated)
*The Timeline of Life Charts are also available in synthetic paper that does not tear or curl up. They can be purchased separately as well as the Research Cards.
How to use the Timeline of Life materials
Below is a brief sequence for presenting the Great Stories. The Timeline of Life is presented along with impressionistic experiments and stories.
- First Great Story: Formation of the Universe (Geography Impressionistic Charts, and experiments)
- Second Great Story: Coming of Life (Long Black Line, Clock of Eras, Timeline of Life Control Chart, and experiments)
- Third Great Story: Humans (Fundamental Needs of Humans Charts, Timeline)
- Fourth Great Story: Writing (History of Writing)
- Five Great Story: Numbers (Timeline of Numbers)
The Timeline of Life Control Chart is comprised of segmented strips at the top. These represent the eon, eras, periods, and epochs that construct our Earth’s history since its formation. The Timeline is crossed by red dotted lines that represent different living organisms rising, lasting, or declining through time. Major living organisms are represented using original hand drawn labeled graphics, which are perfect for leaving impressions on children. The timeline is also segmented by various natural phenomena such as major extinctions and glacial periods. The bottom of the timeline depicts coal deposits, and continental drifts, which shaped the Earth’s surface. The Ural mountains, the Appalachian mountains, the Rocky mountains, and the Himalayan mountains are represented as well.
It is important to note that the scale of the Timeline of Life is not proportional. The size of each era, period, or epoch has been designed to accommodate the living organisms discovered in each section. Children can refer back to the Clock of Eons to have a better understanding of the truth scale for each era. The Long Black line in conjunction with the Clock of Era is the best tool to demonstrate working with disproportional timelines.
An important feature of the Timeline of Life Chart is the color-coded strips at the top. In effect, these colors have not been arbitrarily chosen. As always in Montessori education, children can rely on color-coded materials to remember certain components. For instance, the blue color of the Paleozoic (ancient life in Greek) era represents the abundance of life in the ocean. The first unicellular life thrived in the ocean, and helped other lifeforms emerge. The brown/orange color of the Mesozoic (middle life in Greek) era represents life on land. Many living organisms have been found on land such as reptiles, and the first mammals. Finally, the green color of the Cenozoic (new life in Greek) represents new life expansion on Earth. As the climate began to warm up, larger mammals appeared.
When introducing the Timeline of Life Control Chart, you will tell short stories about life unfolding. You may want to cover the the parts of the timeline that you have not introduced yet. You can find the stories and impressionistic experiments to conduct in Montessori manuals. Children will be left with great impressions through short stories and experiments that allow them to process such immensurable knowledge. It will take weeks or months to introduce this work. In the meantime, children will be able to use the Mute Chart with cutouts to replicate and integrate the work presented. We have created 182 Research Cards, one for each important component on the timeline. These can be used for in-depth secondary presentation, or independently by children. The Research Cards are designed using the color coding of the timeline. They contain the respective kingdom/phylum/period of the organism described, as well as interesting facts to spark children’s interest in researching more.
Research Cards
In addition to our synthetic paper Timeline of Life, we hope you will appreciate our cloth version as well. The cloth material is easier for children to manipulate. It is convenient for selective presentation as well since it can be overlapped. You can also store it in a creative way as the material doesn’t crease easily! Our Research Cards can be grouped into booklets using rings.
Visit our Website www.alisonsmontessori.com for more options.
Synthetic Paper (top)
Cloth (bottom)
Cloth Timeline
Fossil of an Ammonite (not included) 
Fossil of a Trilobite (not included)
