As educators, Maria Montessori implored us to regard the child’s intelligence as a fertile field where we are to sow seeds that are to grow under the fiery energy of the child’s imagination. She said: “Our aim therefore is not merely to make the child understand, and still less to force him to memorize, but so to touch his imagination as to enthuse him to his inmost core.”

I experienced an exciting phenomenon in my elementary classroom when I first sowed the seeds of biomes to my students in conjunction with geography, botany, and zoology. Language came alive with researches on animals, art projects and dramatic presentations spun off the theme. It was the most dynamic learning experience I have ever witnessed. Each child in the class was shining with their accomplishments, eager to learn, and empowered to be creative. Ever since those years, I have been attempting to share and develop materials that would provide structure and stimulation so that event might be replicated and expanded.

Montessori lived during a time of world wars when peace was the preeminent concern. While peace is still an issue in our times, the health of the planet is also at risk.

While the cosmic curriculum lays a foundation for the idea of a cooperative and interdependent evolution of life, environmental education is a missing component of the Montessori curriculum. The Biomes Curriculum attempts to fill that hole using the guiding principles of the Montessori Method. I endeavor to serve in the spirit of Montessori’s vision by offering this work to fellow educators.

While the materials are for sale and copyrighted, the ideas are free as ideas always should be. If you have more time and talent than money, please feel free to make them for yourself. If you can save the time and order them, then know that your money is going toward a non-profit corporation seeking to support our own equal-opportunity school in Athens, Georgia as well as sister schools in developing countries.

We, as educators, have the opportunity to make a lasting impression on the perceptions of the very impressionable children under our care. We can help them to establish a connection to the natural world, an understanding of its guiding principles and an awareness necessary to create a sustainable future. If we work together, sharing information and ideas and inspiring one another to act, we can start a peaceful environmental revolution. We can change our world by changing our perception of it.

Sharon Duncan