Based on the view that young children have a different intellectual culture from adults' in the way they know and understand nature, this paper explores ecological human brain development, children's intellectual culture of naturalist intelligence, and developmentally and culturally congruent curricula for young children. The paper discusses the theoretical connection between developmentally and culturally appropriate practice (DCAP) and the ecological human brain. Gardner's view of naturalist intelligence is presented as the ability to recognize and classify plants, minerals, and animals needed to survive. The paper argues that across all cultures, children have a unique affinity for the natural environment different from that of adults and that adults often respond in intellectually incongruent ways to children's knowledge constructions about nature. The paper contends that failing to support children's knowledge construction about nature during critical periods can have serious implications for how children will relate to the natural world over their lifespan. The paper describes the ecological brain as dependent on social-cultural input and as constantly changing structure and function in response to external experiences. The paper also describes the DCAP base curriculum as an exploratory curriculum that responds to, validates, and reinforces children's naturalist intelligence. The paper concludes by asserting that responses to children's naturalist intelligence should be based on their curiosity-center intellectual culture and reflected in daily exploratory curriculum. (Contains 44 references.) (KB)