Earth and Living Things

November felt like a very short month in Verde! 

From the holistic view of body, mind, spirit and inter-connectedness of all living creatures in this universe this month we moved on to talk about living and non-living things.

We discussed what are the general rules in deciding whether something is living or non-living.

​Children learnt the six rules to identify whether something is living or non-living. These include living things are made of cells; they obtain and use energy; they grow and develop; they reproduce; they respond and adapt to their environment. We also talked about how some non-living things like paper were living in the form of tree before they got made into paper. 

Living things are categorized into plants and animals. Animals further were classified into vertebrates and invertebrate animals. We learnt about the vertebrate animals like Fish, Frog, Turtle, Bird and Mammal. Children loved the story of how each Vertebrate animal came into existence. 

Through this unit the children learnt that all living creatures need food, water, shelter, warmth and protection. This shows that we are all part of the same family of life on earth and hence must live in harmony with each other. Hence all the more reason to use earth’s resources wisely.

​Next month we dive into how we humans are using way too much resources and what impact it is having on out planet. We will continue to learn about solutions to protect our planet in January. 

“Children have an anxious concern for living beings, and the satisfaction of this instinct fills them with delight. It is therefore easy to interest them in taking care of plants and especially of animals. Nothing awakens foresight in a small child such as this. When he knows that animals have need of him, that little plants will dry up if he does not water them, he binds together with a new thread of love today’s passing moments with those of the tomorrow” - Maria Montessori.

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