Product Overview
This comprehensive botany package brings together the essential Montessori leaf materials into a single, coordinated set designed for robust use in Montessori classrooms from Early Childhood through Elementary.
Package Overview
This product bundle provides a complete pathway for studying leaf forms and leaf morphology, moving students from concrete, sensorial exploration to precise botanical terminology and visual reference. It combines:
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The AMI-approved Nienhuis Botany Cabinet (004100) with 18 leaf-shape insets and frames.
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ETC Montessori’s Leaf Morphology Nomenclature (ELC-4075), a full three-part nomenclature set.
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ETC Montessori’s Leaf Morphology Chart, a large wall/chart reference for leaf arrangement, margins, and venation.
Together, these materials create a coherent, multi-year botany strand that supports sensorial development, language, classification, and scientific observation in alignment with Montessori principles.
Components Included
1. Nienhuis Botany Cabinet (004100)
The Botany Cabinet is a beech plywood cabinet with three drawers, each containing six leaf-form insets and corresponding frames, for a total of 18 distinct leaf shapes. The cabinet measures approximately 49 x 34 x 16 cm and is AMI approved.
In the Montessori environment, children:
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Trace the smooth metal insets to refine fine-motor control and pencil grip.
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Visually and tactually discriminate between different leaf shapes.
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Match the geometric leaf forms to real leaves collected from the outdoor environment, connecting the material to nature.
This serves as the concrete, sensorial foundation for later abstract work with terminology and classification.
2. Leaf Morphology Nomenclature (ETC Montessori, ELC-4075)
The Leaf Morphology Nomenclature set is a complete nomenclature of leaf forms and related morphology, designed to work directly with the cabinet’s leaf shapes and advanced botany studies.
Key features:
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Includes:
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Three-part cards (picture, label, and definition)
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Etymology integrated into definitions to support word study and vocabulary building
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Control charts
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Booklets for independent reference and control of error
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Focus on the scientific names of leaf shapes and morphology characteristics, enabling students to move from simply recognizing a form to naming and describing it using accurate botanical language.
3. Leaf Morphology Chart (ETC Montessori)
This large-format chart provides a visual synthesis of key aspects of leaf morphology and is explicitly designed to work with both the leaf cabinet and the Leaf Morphology Nomenclature.
Chart details:
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Dimensions: 24" W x 36" H for clear classroom display.
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Content includes:
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Leaf arrangement on stems
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Leaf margins (edges)
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Leaf venation patterns
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Described as containing “all the information you need to complete your studies of plants, their leaves, and botany in general,” making it an excellent reference for group lessons, individual research, and follow-up work.
The chart serves as an anchor visual for discussions, presentations, and student research projects across multiple levels.
How This Package Functions in a Montessori Classroom
Early Childhood (3–6)
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The Botany Cabinet forms the core material, allowing children to explore and classify leaf shapes through sensorial work.
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The guide can begin to introduce simple vocabulary orally (e.g., “oval leaf,” “heart-shaped leaf”) and connect the cabinet to real leaves during nature walks.
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The chart may be used as a passive visual reference or occasionally in collective presentations, without requiring full reading ability.
Lower & Upper Elementary (6–12)
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Students revisit the familiar forms of the Botany Cabinet, now pairing them with the Leaf Morphology Nomenclature three-part cards to learn correct terminology and definitions.
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The etymology in the nomenclature definitions supports word study, spelling, and morphology work in the language curriculum.
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The Leaf Morphology Chart becomes a primary reference tool for:
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Botany research projects (leaf collections, plant identification)
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Notebook work and scientific illustration
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Classifying leaves by margin, venation, and arrangement as part of larger studies such as plant kingdom, ecosystems, or biomes.
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Pedagogical Benefits
As a unified package, these three materials together:
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Respect the Montessori progression from concrete to abstract:
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Cabinet → sensorial exploration
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Nomenclature → language, classification, and concept formation
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Chart → abstraction, synthesis, and long-term reference
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Support interdisciplinary connections:
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Science: plant structure, classification, morphology, ecosystems
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Language: vocabulary, etymology, reading, and writing work
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Art: careful leaf drawing, shading, and labeling using the insets and chart
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Facilitate multi-age use: The same set can be re-presented at increasing levels of complexity as children progress through the environment, maximizing both instructional value and investment.
