Cultural Subjects (Geography, History, Science, Botany, Zoology)
Domain 6 covers geography, history, science, botany, and zoology as one connected curriculum - cosmic education in the 6–12 and concrete, hands-on keys in the 3–6. Expect questions on the correct order of materials, parts-of nomenclature, and why facts are given through material rather than text.
Geography
- Order: sandpaper globe (land and water only), colored globe (continents by color), puzzle maps (continent, then country), land and water forms (lake and island, bay and cape, strait and isthmus) with models and water.
- Extensions: continent boxes, flag work, parts of a map, cultural artifacts.
History
- The child's own timeline first: birthday celebration with the earth circling the sun, calendar, clock, personal and family timelines.
- Long timelines and the clock of eras come later; the 3–6 child needs the personal and daily cycle.
Science, botany, zoology
- Living and nonliving, sink and float, magnets, states of matter, then plant and animal care.
- Botany: parts of the plant, leaf cabinet and leaf shapes, parts of the flower, tree, and root; nomenclature cards and booklets.
- Zoology: vertebrates (fish, amphibian, reptile, bird, mammal) versus invertebrates; parts of each vertebrate; classification cards and blank charts.
Worked example
You want to introduce Africa. Reasoning: begin with the sandpaper globe to feel land and water, move to the colored globe to locate Africa by its color, then the puzzle map to lift and feel the continent piece, then a continent box with objects and photographs. Presenting the puzzle map first gives a shape with no global frame.
Traps that cost marks
- Fact worksheets and flashcards replacing the material.
- Introducing the puzzle map before either globe.
- Confusing the sandpaper globe with the colored globe.
- Naming every part of a flower in one lesson instead of one three-period lesson at a time.
- Isolating botany and zoology from the science shelf.