science investigatory project
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introduction
During your Intermediate years, you were introduced with various Montessori materials like charts, classified nomenclature cards and the like. One of the notable charts in the Cultural Arts is The Story of the Great River (shown in the figure at the right). This chart is a metaphor on how the body of living organisms works through the harmonious functions of the different body systems. Following is a script discussing The Story of the Great River retrieved from (http://katienelsonmontessori.weebly.com/uploads/5/9/2/1/59211361/the-story-of-the-great-river.docx)
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I know of a marvelous nation, a marvelous country, where the inhabitants are more numerous than all those populating our planet. Do you know how many people there are living on the Earth at the moment? More than 6 billion! Well, this marvelous country has many, many more inhabitants than that. How extraordinary! A country ,which has more inhabitants than the whole of our planet Earth. But then, this is a strange story about a strange country.
The inhabitants that make up this marvelous nation are organized into all sorts of groups and regions, all of which are very important. But for us, most important of all, is the Great River that runs throughout the whole of the country, throughout the whole of the nation.
The Great River has many, many branches: larger branches like tributaries, smaller streams, and channels that become smaller and smaller and smaller so that they can reach every zone of the country. All sorts of traffic goes up and down the Great River, up and down the tributaries, up and down all the branches that become smaller and smaller; so that the traffic reaches every village, every field, every single inhabitant.
Most of the inhabitants of this country live hidden away from sight and so the Great River, which links all of them, has to flow in secret. A secret river? Hidden inhabitants? Well, what can you expect? This is a strange story about a strange country with a strange river and strange inhabitants…
The inhabitants are very strange because they work all the time. All the time! It’s as though they only live to work, as though they live only for the purpose of working. And they only work at the task, at the job, that’s been assigned to them. We said there were different groups, and each group works at only one particular task. So the inhabitants are highly specialized. These inhabitants even transform their bodies according to the particular task they have to do. They are not like us. We have all sorts of special instruments to help us; their special instrument is their body.
They work all the time, day and night, night and day. They never rest, they never strike. They don’t just work to live, it would be far truer to say that they live to work. Each group is totally dedicated to, and completely focused on its special task. They work unconsciously but it’s almost as though they know that the work they do is essential for the good of the whole country.
As we said, most of the inhabitants are hidden from sight, and the Great River flows in secret and links up all the inhabitants through innumerable streams and channels. (When you think of the Great River you have to think of the whole river system.)
From the Great River the different groups of workers can take whatever they need, because the Great River provides for everything they need. They, in turn, put back into the river whatever they produce that they don’t need for themselves. In this way, the products of the work of the inhabitants are distributed throughout the nation and so the Great River makes life possible for all the inhabitants of the country. The river, then, is a great means of communication. But the river does something else as well: not only does it carry whatever is needed to all the inhabitants; the river also carries away all the waste or garbage. By bringing whatever is needed and by taking away all the waste, the river ensures that the nation remains healthy. This nation is a truly marvelous nation: a nation wanted by God, a nation where all is harmony and constant work.
We have understood that these inhabitants work all the time, but what about harmony? Who commands in this nation? Who makes up the government? Well, it’s also a strange government; for one thing, it hasn’t changed in hundreds of thousands of years. But then, this is a strange country with a strange river and strange inhabitants and so perhaps we should expect a strange government! The government never changes, but the inhabitants are completely obedient. They work all the time. If they didn’t work all the time, the nation would perish. And so they work all their lives and when they die, they just slip away into the river. There are no tears, no mourning, no ceremonies; everyone just keeps on working because that is what is important for the nation. The inhabitants don’t think about why they exist, don’t think about why they are working, they just work and that’s that. They are all the same when it comes to working: they all work equally hard and they are all equally willing to be obedient. They are obedient right up until they die. Therefore this nation is really not like the nations we know: the inhabitants of this nation can’t make their voices heard and they don’t get to vote. They never get to vote, but they always obey the government. The government is a part of the country yet somewhat isolated, and the ones that form the government always keep their own job. They don’t take turns to do different jobs; they too are specialized.
We could compare the place where the government is found, to a strong and fortified castle. And the river that feeds the workers, that keeps the country clean, that defends and brings life to the entire nation, that same river flows through the fortified castle.
Let us suppose that the beings governing from this strange castle constitute the presidency, then the zones into which the country is divided we can think of as departments. The castle rules over all the departments. What are the departments? There is a department of nutrition, department of air, department of defense and department of the boundaries of the nation, department of sensations, department of sanitation or purification, and also the department of transport. And what is that department? It’s the Great River.
Each department is an entity into itself, but each one is united with the others. How is this done, how is this unification achieved? Partly by the Great River and partly in another way. We said there is a department of sensations and all sensations are immediately reported to the castle where the government lives. The government then immediately sends out commands to the right places so that appropriate action can be taken. All of this is done with incredible speed and precision. Therefore each part of the nation has a special, fast means of communication with that strange castle. Consequently, even though the departments are separate, they are continually in contact with one another both by way of the Great River and through other special channels of communication.
Let’s come back to our Great River. We have already said it’s essential to the health of the nation. We have said that it runs both in great branches and tiny channels so that it can reach the farthest-flung boundaries of the nation. Do you know where this river that flows in secret can be found? Can you guess where you can find this strange nation? Would you like to know the name of the Great River that flows through this nation?
That strange and marvelous country where all the inhabitants work and live in harmony is the human body. The name of the Great River that runs through the body is blood: blood that flows and transports, blood that feeds, blood that cleans, defends and gives life to the country and its inhabitants, that keeps the inhabitants healthy. Who are the inhabitants? The cells in our body: that’s why we can say there are more of them then there are inhabitants in the whole world.
Can you feel the Great River that is flowing through each one of us right now? Can you feel its pulse? Do you see the strange nation, this strange country? The inhabitants are in each of us; the Great River flows through all of us. It flows throughout the body so that every single part is reached. The smallest parts from which our bodies are formed are the cells: a cell is very tiny, so tiny we can’t see it with the naked eye. Yet the Great River reaches every single cell, and all the cells together work unconsciously to keep the body alive.
The human body is a marvelous and divine work of creation, where all is unconscious, untiring, constant, work; where all is perfect harmony.
And here we have a chart for the Great River. We said the inhabitants of the country, the nation, of the Great River are the cells. The Great River itself is the blood, and the blood is carried through a system of vessels. The cells take from the Great River what they need and the put back into the Great River what they don’t need. The work of the Great River has to do with transport, and so here we have the department of transportation.
All of the cells have their own special work to do. Here is the castle where we find the cells that govern. What do we find inside our skull? It’s somewhat separated but not isolated. So these cells can govern the body, they are not completely cut off.
Then we have a windmill, the department of nutrition. It stands for all the specialized cells in the body that are involved in providing the food. The process starts when we put food into our moth, but that food must reach the cells in a suitable form. We can see that represented here by the windmill and a man carrying sacks. All sorts of specialized cells work together so that we can be nourished. (A windmill gives the idea of cereal, of wheat, of bread, and consequently the associated idea of nutrition.)
We heard about the department of air. That has to do with breathing and ensuring that each cell gets the oxygen it needs. This work is represented here by a man with bellows. The lungs are involved, the nose, the mouth; and the blood carries the oxygen to every cell. Here is the department of defense, we can see soldiers. They represent cells specialized in defending our body (white blood cells). These special cells protect us against invaders. Here is the department of sensations, we see a nose, a hand, an eye, an ear, a tongue. Each of these permits us to receive, to perceive, sensations: sensations to do with smelling, touching, seeing, hearing, andtasting. All the information received through these senses is conveyed to the government in the castle, which then sends out the commands to say what action has to be taken. All of this takes place with incredible rapidity and precision. In this way, the government is in continual and constant communication with the rest of the body.
Would you like to find out more about the human body?
The inhabitants that make up this marvelous nation are organized into all sorts of groups and regions, all of which are very important. But for us, most important of all, is the Great River that runs throughout the whole of the country, throughout the whole of the nation.
The Great River has many, many branches: larger branches like tributaries, smaller streams, and channels that become smaller and smaller and smaller so that they can reach every zone of the country. All sorts of traffic goes up and down the Great River, up and down the tributaries, up and down all the branches that become smaller and smaller; so that the traffic reaches every village, every field, every single inhabitant.
Most of the inhabitants of this country live hidden away from sight and so the Great River, which links all of them, has to flow in secret. A secret river? Hidden inhabitants? Well, what can you expect? This is a strange story about a strange country with a strange river and strange inhabitants…
The inhabitants are very strange because they work all the time. All the time! It’s as though they only live to work, as though they live only for the purpose of working. And they only work at the task, at the job, that’s been assigned to them. We said there were different groups, and each group works at only one particular task. So the inhabitants are highly specialized. These inhabitants even transform their bodies according to the particular task they have to do. They are not like us. We have all sorts of special instruments to help us; their special instrument is their body.
They work all the time, day and night, night and day. They never rest, they never strike. They don’t just work to live, it would be far truer to say that they live to work. Each group is totally dedicated to, and completely focused on its special task. They work unconsciously but it’s almost as though they know that the work they do is essential for the good of the whole country.
As we said, most of the inhabitants are hidden from sight, and the Great River flows in secret and links up all the inhabitants through innumerable streams and channels. (When you think of the Great River you have to think of the whole river system.)
From the Great River the different groups of workers can take whatever they need, because the Great River provides for everything they need. They, in turn, put back into the river whatever they produce that they don’t need for themselves. In this way, the products of the work of the inhabitants are distributed throughout the nation and so the Great River makes life possible for all the inhabitants of the country. The river, then, is a great means of communication. But the river does something else as well: not only does it carry whatever is needed to all the inhabitants; the river also carries away all the waste or garbage. By bringing whatever is needed and by taking away all the waste, the river ensures that the nation remains healthy. This nation is a truly marvelous nation: a nation wanted by God, a nation where all is harmony and constant work.
We have understood that these inhabitants work all the time, but what about harmony? Who commands in this nation? Who makes up the government? Well, it’s also a strange government; for one thing, it hasn’t changed in hundreds of thousands of years. But then, this is a strange country with a strange river and strange inhabitants and so perhaps we should expect a strange government! The government never changes, but the inhabitants are completely obedient. They work all the time. If they didn’t work all the time, the nation would perish. And so they work all their lives and when they die, they just slip away into the river. There are no tears, no mourning, no ceremonies; everyone just keeps on working because that is what is important for the nation. The inhabitants don’t think about why they exist, don’t think about why they are working, they just work and that’s that. They are all the same when it comes to working: they all work equally hard and they are all equally willing to be obedient. They are obedient right up until they die. Therefore this nation is really not like the nations we know: the inhabitants of this nation can’t make their voices heard and they don’t get to vote. They never get to vote, but they always obey the government. The government is a part of the country yet somewhat isolated, and the ones that form the government always keep their own job. They don’t take turns to do different jobs; they too are specialized.
We could compare the place where the government is found, to a strong and fortified castle. And the river that feeds the workers, that keeps the country clean, that defends and brings life to the entire nation, that same river flows through the fortified castle.
Let us suppose that the beings governing from this strange castle constitute the presidency, then the zones into which the country is divided we can think of as departments. The castle rules over all the departments. What are the departments? There is a department of nutrition, department of air, department of defense and department of the boundaries of the nation, department of sensations, department of sanitation or purification, and also the department of transport. And what is that department? It’s the Great River.
Each department is an entity into itself, but each one is united with the others. How is this done, how is this unification achieved? Partly by the Great River and partly in another way. We said there is a department of sensations and all sensations are immediately reported to the castle where the government lives. The government then immediately sends out commands to the right places so that appropriate action can be taken. All of this is done with incredible speed and precision. Therefore each part of the nation has a special, fast means of communication with that strange castle. Consequently, even though the departments are separate, they are continually in contact with one another both by way of the Great River and through other special channels of communication.
Let’s come back to our Great River. We have already said it’s essential to the health of the nation. We have said that it runs both in great branches and tiny channels so that it can reach the farthest-flung boundaries of the nation. Do you know where this river that flows in secret can be found? Can you guess where you can find this strange nation? Would you like to know the name of the Great River that flows through this nation?
That strange and marvelous country where all the inhabitants work and live in harmony is the human body. The name of the Great River that runs through the body is blood: blood that flows and transports, blood that feeds, blood that cleans, defends and gives life to the country and its inhabitants, that keeps the inhabitants healthy. Who are the inhabitants? The cells in our body: that’s why we can say there are more of them then there are inhabitants in the whole world.
Can you feel the Great River that is flowing through each one of us right now? Can you feel its pulse? Do you see the strange nation, this strange country? The inhabitants are in each of us; the Great River flows through all of us. It flows throughout the body so that every single part is reached. The smallest parts from which our bodies are formed are the cells: a cell is very tiny, so tiny we can’t see it with the naked eye. Yet the Great River reaches every single cell, and all the cells together work unconsciously to keep the body alive.
The human body is a marvelous and divine work of creation, where all is unconscious, untiring, constant, work; where all is perfect harmony.
And here we have a chart for the Great River. We said the inhabitants of the country, the nation, of the Great River are the cells. The Great River itself is the blood, and the blood is carried through a system of vessels. The cells take from the Great River what they need and the put back into the Great River what they don’t need. The work of the Great River has to do with transport, and so here we have the department of transportation.
All of the cells have their own special work to do. Here is the castle where we find the cells that govern. What do we find inside our skull? It’s somewhat separated but not isolated. So these cells can govern the body, they are not completely cut off.
Then we have a windmill, the department of nutrition. It stands for all the specialized cells in the body that are involved in providing the food. The process starts when we put food into our moth, but that food must reach the cells in a suitable form. We can see that represented here by the windmill and a man carrying sacks. All sorts of specialized cells work together so that we can be nourished. (A windmill gives the idea of cereal, of wheat, of bread, and consequently the associated idea of nutrition.)
We heard about the department of air. That has to do with breathing and ensuring that each cell gets the oxygen it needs. This work is represented here by a man with bellows. The lungs are involved, the nose, the mouth; and the blood carries the oxygen to every cell. Here is the department of defense, we can see soldiers. They represent cells specialized in defending our body (white blood cells). These special cells protect us against invaders. Here is the department of sensations, we see a nose, a hand, an eye, an ear, a tongue. Each of these permits us to receive, to perceive, sensations: sensations to do with smelling, touching, seeing, hearing, andtasting. All the information received through these senses is conveyed to the government in the castle, which then sends out the commands to say what action has to be taken. All of this takes place with incredible rapidity and precision. In this way, the government is in continual and constant communication with the rest of the body.
Would you like to find out more about the human body?
Did you find the Story of the Great River interesting? Now that you are in the Professional High School level, details of the different organ systems described in the chart will be discussed thoroughly and will be applied in various human practices. For Grade 8 Science, we will delve deeper in the organ system responsible in providing nutrients to the different parts of the body-- The Digestive System. As an introduction, below is video presentation summarizing how the process of digestion takes place. Watch and learn from this video.
THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
The above video presentation serves as a springboard for further discussions in class-- laboratory activities, seatworks and drill sheets.