Poetry in Science
Why are the Earth and Moon falling out? Find out by listening to The Battle of the Bulge
SEVEN REASONS WHY POETRY IS PALS WITH SCIENCE:
- A POEM can state the obvious without making us feel foolish
- TOGETHER they can explore comparisons between familiar and unfamiliar ideas
- POEMS are free to create bizarre and amusing mnemonics
- STANZAS provide a secure framework, making new science concepts easy to take in
- RHYMES help us think ahead, anticipating the next rhyming word
- VERSES break up information into manageable segments
- POETRY can be read and recited many times
Teachers who want to make their science lessons reach out to their students include a poem. High-achieving students take on the challenge to write their own science poems.
Springing To Action | Energy and change | Forces |
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Forces and their effects | Springs; flexibility; energy |
Click to listen to Springing To Action
Springing To Action by Celia Berrell
Sprrr-ing is such an active word.
You can hear it gathering up its force.
Ready to burst out a kind of ping.
Releasing its energy on a course.
It’s the name we give to the season when
all living things gear up to abound.
We use it to label a water source
that’s pushing its way through the spongy ground.
It’s also the name we give a device
that bends and moves but will not crack.
It’s often metallic and flexible.
If it’s pushed or pulled, it does the same back.
A spring isn’t always a coiled-up wire.
It could be a curve or a V-shaped bend.
Like a bow that shoots arrows through the air
or a pair of tweezers with open ends.
A spring can be made from a plastic mould.
a blister or mound or a curvy dome.
They’re hidden in keyboards for typing things
or used on the pad of an old mobile phone.
A pen you can click, a used paper-clip.
A clock that goes tick, a peg you can grip.
A doorknob that twists. A bike bell that rings.
It’s likely they’ve all got some kind of Sprrr-ing!
Battle of the Bulge | Earth and Beyond | Forces |
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Gravity | Earth; Moon; Gravity; Friction; Tides |