What to Teach After the Montessori Second Great Story: Follow-Up Lessons and a Three-Year Plan
After presenting the Montessori Second Great Story, it can be difficult to decide what to teach next. There are many possible Second Great Story Follow up activities. Dinosaurs and fossils are often the most obvious—and most popular—choice, but the story offers far more than a single dinosaur unit. It provides a foundation for geology, evolutionary history, botany, zoology, ecology and practical work connected with the living world.
The goal is not to cover every follow-up lesson immediately. Instead, plan the work across the three-year elementary cycle, revisiting the story through a different scientific lens each year.
Example: Planning Second Great Story Follow-Up Across Three Years
| Year | Possible focus |
|---|---|
| Year 1 | Timeline of Life, eras and early life |
| Year 2 | Dinosaurs, fossils and changing environments |
| Year 3 | Botany, zoology, classification and ecology |
Needing help spreading Cosmic Education across a three-year cycle?
The Second Great Story can lead into the Timeline of Life, fossils, dinosaurs, botany, zoology, ecology, the Clock of Eras and much more. There is far too much to try to cover in a single year.
My free Montessori Cosmic Education Scope & Sequence can help you see how these lessons fit alongside the other Great Stories and plan coverage across the elementary years.
It is not a checklist. Choose appropriate areas to emphasise each year while leaving space to follow the child's interests.
Choice boards , activity menus and carefully selected lists of ideas can make follow-up work manageable and rewarding for everyone. Offering completely open-ended choice—such as “Choose anything you are interested in”—can be overwhelming for some children. Providing a few clear parameters gives children a helpful starting point while still allowing them to follow their interests.
Begin with the Timeline of Life
Present the Timeline of Life, and if possible provide a mute version so children can place labels and pictures onto the different geological periods. Explore what happened during periods such as the Ordovician, Silurian and Permian, including the plants and animals that appeared and the changes taking place on Earth. Students can also research animals of this era. Students may also wish to make their own timeline. These students worked diligently over weeks to make this timeline. Keep returning to the Timeline of Life throughout the year. When children study flowers, reptiles, mammals or invertebrates, invite them to locate the group on the timeline. This helps them see botany and zoology as part of one unfolding story rather than as separate topics.
Explore Deep Time with the Clock of Eras
Use the Clock of Eras to take children even further back into deep time and help them compare the enormous lengths of different geological eras. Carrying out projects on particular periods or drawing or painting a Clock of Eras helps children slow down and really appreciate the vastness of time. For more information about the Clock you can read this blog.
Linking the Clock of Eras to something tangible such as an animal that lived at that time can also be very helpful.
Study Dinosaurs and Fossils
Dinosaurs and fossils are a natural direction for many teachers and children(get this fossil freebie) are a natural direction for many teachers and children. Children can investigate different types of fossils, explore how fossilisation occurs and make model fossils of their own.
They can also compare the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, examining changes in climate, landforms, plant life and animal life. Younger children may benefit from research questions, writing frames or partially completed diagrams to support their work.
Extend into Botany
The Second Great Story can be used as a launching pad for studying plants. Students can consider how plants helped transform Earth’s atmosphere and support later animal life. Botany follow-up work can move from classification and nomenclature into experiments, observation and care of living plants.
The Timeline of Life also shows when different plant groups appeared and how their features changed over time. Impressionistic stories can lead into lessons about seeds, roots, stems, leaves and flowers. Older children might investigate how plants have adapted to different environments.
Extend into Zoology
I really enjoy getting out the Montessori “parts of” vertebrate sets and placing them beneath the relevant section of the Timeline of Life. It helps children see that these animals did not simply appear as isolated zoology lessons—they belong within the much bigger story of life on Earth.
Older children, or younger children with a strong interest, can extend this work into the major invertebrate groups, including Porifera, Cnidaria, Platyhelminthes, Nematoda, Mollusca, Annelida, Arthropoda and Echinodermata.
Move Into Classification
The Second Great Story naturally leads into classification because children are beginning to see just how much life has appeared and changed over time.
This can include sorting and comparing vertebrates and invertebrates, looking at major plant groups, using Montessori nomenclature materials, and identifying the characteristics that scientists use to group living things.
Classification also helps children make connections between the Timeline of Life and the botany and zoology work they meet elsewhere in the Montessori elementary curriculum.
Explore Ecology and Interdependence
The Second Great Story also leads beautifully into ecology. Children can explore habitats, food chains and food webs, pollination, decomposition, native species, conservation and the ways plants and animals depend on one another.
Gardening, cooking with plants, caring for living things and learning about local conservation projects are practical ways to make this work feel real. Older children may enjoy researching threatened species, invasive species or environmental changes in their own country.
This is also a wonderful opportunity to bring Cosmic Education back to one of its central ideas: life is interconnected, and every organism has a role within a much larger system.
You do not need to fit every possibility into the weeks immediately following the story. The Second Great Story is a starting point that children can return to throughout the elementary years. By planning across the three-year cycle and keeping the Timeline of Life visible, you can balance children’s interests with broad and meaningful curriculum coverage.
Want the Second Great Story Follow-Up Work Ready to Go?
If you want children to have meaningful follow-up choices without having to create every activity yourself, I have resources designed specifically for this stage of the Cosmic Education sequence.
These include work connected with the Timeline of Life, early life, fossils, dinosaurs, classification and independent research.
Explore the Second Great Story Choice Board →
Frequently Asked Questions
What should I teach after the Montessori Second Great Story?
A good starting point is the Timeline of Life, followed by work connected with fossils, dinosaurs, early life, botany, zoology, classification and ecology. You do not need to teach everything at once.
Do I need to cover all the Second Great Story follow-up work in one year?
No. The Second Great Story is a starting point rather than a checklist. Follow-up work can be spread across the three-year elementary cycle and revisited from different scientific perspectives.
What age is the Second Great Story for?
The Montessori Great Stories are generally presented during the elementary years, approximately ages 6–12. The follow-up work can then be adapted according to the child's age, interests and level of independence.
Does the Second Great Story only lead into science?
No. It can also lead into writing, research, geography, art, timelines, environmental studies, practical life and independent project work.
Continue Exploring Montessori Cosmic Education
The Second Great Story is part of a much larger connected curriculum. These guides can help you plan what comes next and make stronger links across Cosmic Education.
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The Montessori Great Stories: A Practical Guide to the Five Great Lessons
Understand the purpose of each Great Story and the curriculum areas that naturally follow. -
What Is Montessori Cosmic Education? A Practical Guide for Ages 6–12
Explore how the Great Stories connect science, history, geography, culture and care for the world. -
How to Present the Montessori Clock of Eras
Help children visualise geological time and understand the immense age of Earth. -
Teaching Children About Fossils
Find hands-on ideas for fossil formation, prehistoric life and evidence from the past. -
Four Ways to Make Connections Across the Montessori Curriculum
Help children connect zoology, botany, history, language and Cosmic Education.
Planning Cosmic Education Across the Three-Year Cycle?
My free Montessori Cosmic Education Scope & Sequence shows how the Great Stories, Timeline of Life, Fundamental Needs and other key areas can fit together across the elementary years.
Ready-to-Use Second Great Story Resources
If you want follow-up work ready to go, these are the resources I would start with after presenting the Second Great Story.
Second Great Story Choice Board
A simple way to give children structure and choice after the story, especially when completely open-ended research feels overwhelming.
View the Second Great Story Choice Board →
Early Life Research Activities
Useful for children exploring the Timeline of Life, early organisms and the different periods of Earth's history.
View Early Life Research Activities →
Plant Adaptations
A natural next step when children move from the Timeline of Life into botany, evolution and the ways plants survive in different environments.
View the Plant Adaptations Resource →
Want a Wider Set of Great Story Resources?
If you are planning across several Great Stories rather than just this one, browse the full Great Stories collection.