JoinThe Poetry of Science
Poetry by the Numbers
By Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong
Take 5!
- Before sharing the poem, show an image of a bridge in the background. Choose one from HistoryofBridges.com, for example. Then read this poem aloud with enthusiasm.
- Share the poem again, but this time invite students to read the crucial middle stanza (I use computers. I use my brain. I think and test till the answer is plain.) while you read the rest of the poem aloud.
- Collaborate with students to create a quick digital photo collage with Canva, a free graphic design website, pulling together images for key words from the poem in a new, visual representation of the poem’s topic. Show the students the choices of text, fonts, and images, while you input those items and create the finished product.
- Use this poem to help students describe what engineers do. Make a list of all the inventions included in the poem (bridge, wheel, robot, rocket, electronic device, running shoes, anti-snoring device). Talk about the tools needed to create these inventions (computers, brain, tests).
- In contrast, share a poem that raises questions that a scientist might tackle with “Late Night Science Questions” by Greg Pincus. And look for David Macaulay’s “readers” that explain how things work, like Toilet: How It Works (2015), or find more engineering poems in Incredible Inventions selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins (2009).
The Engineer
By Stephanie Calmenson
Listen up and you will hear
Why I am called an engineer.
I solve. I build. I invent.
I’d say my time is very well spent.
Want a bridge? I’ll design it for you.
Want a new kind of wheel? I’ll develop that, too.
I use computers. I use my brain.
I think and test till the answer is plain.
Want a robot, a rocket, an electronic device?
I’ll take the assignment. I won’t think twice.
I’ll make running shoes that will send you soaring!
I’ll develop a device that will keep you from snoring!
My life is all about invention.
Making the world work better is my intention
Poem © 2014 Stephanie Calmenson from The Poetry Friday Anthology for Science by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong ©2014 Pomelo Books; illustration by Frank Ramspott from The Poetry of Science: The Poetry Friday Anthology for Science for Kids © 2015 Pomelo Books.