Jointhe poetry of science
Poetry Celebrates Science and Culture
Science and Children—March/April 2021 (Volume 58, Issue 4)
By Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong
Take 5!
- Set the stage for this poem by showing a map locating the Zhejiang Province of China and talking about the timeframe for this subject (1031–1095). Encourage students to visualize that time and place as you read the poem aloud.
- Share this poem again, and invite students to join in on the pivotal line (But people did not want to hear these things) while you read the rest of the poem aloud.
- For discussion: Why do people sometimes ignore the claims of science?
- Work together to research Shen Kuo’s many contributions to science, starting with those listed in the poem. One helpful resource is available online from China Culture.
- For a poem about magnetic poles, seek out “No Penguins Here” by Michael Salinger or the nonfiction picture book Magnetism Investigations by Karen Latchana Kenney.
Almost a thousand years ago
a Chinese scientist named Shen Kuo,
geologist-cartographer-astronomer-engineer,
discovered fossilized shells
hundreds of miles inland
that made it clear the shoreline had moved.
Petrified bamboo convinced him
that climate change was happening.
But people did not want to hear these things.
Instead he became known for the idea
that true north is not magnetic north.
His magnetic needle compass was worth
spices, gold, jewels—even a giraffe—
as explorers later sailed to Africa and back.
Climate change and the shifting sea:
who would choose such mundane news
over promises of spices, gold, and jewels?
Poem © 2014 Janet S. Wong 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..
References
Kenney, K.L. 2017. Magnetism Investigations. Minneapolis: Lerner.
Wong, J. 2014. “Shen Kuo” in The Poetry Friday Anthology for Science, eds. S. Vardell and J. Wong, 259. Princeton, NJ: Pomelo Books.
Online Resources
“No Penguins Here” by Michael Salinger
Literacy Early Childhood Elementary