JoinThe Poetry of Science
Solar Power
Science and Children—January/February 2023 (Volume 60, Issue 3)
By Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong
Solar Power
by Susan Blackaby
Solar power! Feel the heat!
Light the lights along the street,
run the engines, fuel the cars,
turn the turbines with a star!
Quick! Let’s build a head of steam,
fire up some clean machines,
set in motion cranks and cams,
swirling gears and pumping dams.
Solar cells turn light to juice—
electron transfer on the loose!
Tap this energy in space!
The sun can win Earth’s resource race.
Poem © 2014 Susan Blackaby 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.
Take 5! Activities
- If a window is nearby, stand by the window while reading this poem aloud, highlighting the importance of the Sun and solar power in this poem.
- Share this poem again, and invite students to say the first line of each stanza while you read the rest of the poem aloud.
- Survey students on which solar powered objects they have experienced collectively (house, car, light, toy, calculator, and so on). Make a simple chart documenting the results.
- This poem can jumpstart a discussion of Earth’s renewable resources, including air, plants, water, and animals; nonrenewable resources such as coal, oil, and natural gas; and the importance of conservation. Work together to find more information on using the Sun as a source of electricity at the “Energy Kids” website (see Online Resources).
- Match this poem with another about solar power, “Auntie V’s Hybrid Car” by Janet Wong (see Online Resources) and the nonfiction photo-essay book The Sun by Seymour Simon (see Resources).
Resources
Simon, S. 2015. The Sun. New York: HarperCollins.
Online Resources
“Auntie V’s Hybrid Car” by Janet Wong www.pinterest.com/pin/361625045091805166?nic_v3=1a4I2Y6fa
U.S. Energy Information Administration: Energy Kids www.eia.gov/kids
Interdisciplinary Literacy Early Childhood