Geography Functional Chapter 1 Experiments 3A 3B 3C

Age

6-9.

Materials

• Experiment 3A: a cylindrical glass with a flat base, a quarter, and a file card
• Experiment 3B: a cylindrical glass with a flat base, water in a small pitcher, and a file card
• Experiment 3C: The lid of a large box, a glass marble, and a pencil

Preparation

• Teacher should have conducted the First Great Lesson: God Who Has No Hands/The Universe Story before beginning these experiments.

• Chapter 1 of Functional Geography is Formation of the Earth and includes Impressionistic Charts 1-6

• Functional geography curriculum focuses on a presentation of the world in terms of the active and functioning processes affecting the earth as a planet in the sun's family. Geography examines the social and cultural contexts of the world while functional geography explores the geological and astronomical contexts of the earth in the universe.

• When we teach functional geography to the child, we are both performing and recording with words and pictures the forces affecting our planet earth.

• Functional Geography is presented to the child as an experiment which isolates a concept and then an impressionistic chart which makes a visual impression.

Presentation

EXPERIMENTS 3A, 3B, 3C: Inertia

EXPERIMENT 3A: 1. Turn the glass upside down. 2. Place the file card on top of the glass. 3. On top of the file card, place the cone. 4. Pull the file card away with a sharp movement.

Record your observation:

Statement:

(The coin remains in its position through the 'law of inertia' because the card is no longer in position, the coin sits on the glass. A body in a state of rest remains at rest.)

EXPERIMENT 3B: 1. Fill the glass a little more than half full of water. 2. Put the glass on the sheet of paper. 3. Give the paper a sharp pull.

Record your observation:

Statement:

(The glass remains in its position through the 'law of inertia' because the card is no longer in position, the glass sits on the tabletop. A body in a state of rest remains at rest.)

EXPERIMENT 3C: 1. Place the cover (rim up) in the center of the table. 2. Put the marble in the middle and the short side nearest you. 3. Place the pencil horizontally on the table at the same position as the short side of the box. 4. Now, with a rapid movement, draw the cover towards you, making it drag on the table, but stopping it suddenly.

Compare the position of the marle with that of the pencil. What has happened to the marble? compare the position of the marble with the rim of the box. what has happened to the marble?

Record your observation:

Statement:

(The glass marble remains in its position through the 'law of inertia'. A body in a state of rest remains at rest.)

Technical Aspect: Law of Inertia: This law states that all matter tends to remain motionless unless affected by an external force. A body at rest stays at rest.

Points Of Interest

There is not an Impressionistic Chart or Classified Nomenclature that accompanies these experiments.

Purpose

• The Montessori methodology first gives the concept of the formation of the earth through experiments. These experiments are the key to giving the child the concrete verification that the universe is not a static universe, but one in which elements are in motion.
  

Variation

Usually, the teacher presents the experiment first, and the the child does it independently using the direction card for directions. With the older children, the experiments are presented in a more scientific way.