This week the kids presented their island research posters. So far in our island work we’ve covered land/water forms, latitude/longitude, and different ways islands form, so these are the topics the kids were asked to research for a specific island.
After the presentations we talked a little bit about what similarities and differences they noticed about the different islands, where they noticed certain island types formed, and what land/water forms they might or might not see depending on the islands location in the world.
Then – finally – the kids got to start brainstorming their own islands! We divided a sheet of paper into quarters, and gave each quarter a heading: landforms, location, formation, and other. They made notes or drawings of any land/water forms they want to include in their island, thought about the location they want, and then decided the most likely way their island might have formed.
Land/waterform cards from The Modern Montessori Guide (basic here, advanced here) were taped up on the wall for reference, along with everyone’s island research posters. We also used world maps and a globe for location research, and pulled out a picture of tectonic plate locations for island location and origin research.
Lastly, they each divided another sheet of paper in half – space to doodle and try out a couple of different island plans. Some kids made two sketches, some knew what they wanted to do and only worked on one.