A Great Lesson: The Coming of Life

Friday morning, the 6th grade students will hear one of Maria Montessori's great lessons:  The Coming of Life.  This is in preparation for this year's musical production that will follow the same theme.  This great lesson tells the grand story of the evolution of life here on earth from single celled organisms to human beings!  You can read the lesson here:

There are two materials that supplement this lesson.  The first is a timeline of life.  It can be viewed here:

The second supplemental material is the Black Strip.  Created by Maria Montessori, this long roll of black cloth is used to show the short amount of time humans have been found on Earth compared to the first single-celled organisms.  

The strip is totally black except for a small sliver of red at the end (representing human existence) .  As we unroll it along the sidewalk in front of the school and students compare the black and red sections, you really come to appreciate the great amount of time that passed before humans arrived on Earth.  

I'm so excited for this amazing lesson to be the theme for this year's musical.  Be on the lookout for more information about that in the near future.