Poetry and science seem separate fields but, together, used in science education to
broaden the science knowledge base and improve science literacy, they can help engage students in deeper pursuit of science.
- Students can write poems about a science topic.
- Students can interpret their own poems and poems others have written.
- Student can use the poems to bridge to research articles.
- Students can get interested in a particular organism based on its use in a poem.
In the poem below, "Calling on You", mangroves are mentioned in a few lines about Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Let's use the
mangrove as an example of how an idea in a poem can lead to expanding a student's science knowledge base while concurrently improving science literacy.
A trip to MiaSci, the Miami Science Museum, there is a display on
mangrove restoration. I have included two pictures that I took of the exhibit. Students in temperate regions might not have seen mangroves. Some students, though, might have moved to your school from Haiti or other areas where mangroves grow and might be very interested in reclamation projects. Some students may be interested in the role mangroves play in fishing. Students may know of mangroves but not know of their role in ecology, their role in saving lives. Thus with so many links to student interests, such a, "discovery," of mangroves may engage your students in new learning. Let's look at a poem first. Do you see links to science, geography and ELA?
Calling on You
by J. S. Shipman
Earth is calling loudly with great waves crashing into Florida.
Earth is sweating salty with Chesapeake crabs moving to New York.
Earth is crying sadly with western desertification.
Trees falling.
Earth is bulging cruelly through weak places;
Haitian mangroves down,
Haiti swept into the sea; Dominican's still standing.
Earth is toasting darkly with wars burned/burning
Here and there.
Liberia rebuilding war torn children.
That war's over, others are still on.
Earth, is calling, crying, bulging, toasting.
You hear all that noise, heat,
Flames and darkness, don't you?
So, change a light bulb, take a walk, don a sweater,
Use less oil, more sunshine and vote wisely.
Earth will smile with medicine, food, clean water,
Health and peace,
All thank you's for your gifts of thought and time.
(c) Shipman, J. S. 2004-2011 Used with permission of the author.
Source: Shipman, J. S. 2005. "Calling on You"
In: A Surrender to the Moon.
International Library of Poetry.
Watermark Press. Owings Mills, MD . P 3.
The poem, "Calling on You" motivates us to action, to do something. The following pictures and videos and journal articles show people working in different ways to solve a global environmental problem. I hope you enjoy them and select some to share with your students.
The slide above is one aspect or the Recovery Project display. It mentions the partners involved in the project. One of those is Miami Dade County Extension. I did a search on them and, "
mangrove," and found the following:
http://miami-dade.ifas.ufl.edu/documents/MangroveID_000.pdf
The link sends you to a slide set which shows
mangrove swamps and characteristics needed for identification of different mangroves and their propagules.
More
mangrove publications from the Miami Dade County Extension can be found here:
http://miami-dade.ifas.ufl.edu/Pubs_SG.shtml
Further searching led to the following
link:
http://www.nhmi.org/mangroves/rep.htm
A Haitian
Mangrove Reclamation project is discussed in a film at the following
link:
http://www.linktv.org/video/5201/haiti-mangrove-protection
The Dominican Republic is also working to preserve mangroves. Here is a You-tube video about that:
Here is a Japanese music video with pictures of mangroves. (I am not sure what the song says. I did learn that, "マングローブ," means, "mangroves." Any readers might help with further translation and post to the comments or
e-mail me.)
Perhaps the Japanese video might be good to enhance a class where students work on Haiku. Then, you can lead the class into further studies on the environment, or, more about mangroves.
And, here, from Treasure Cay, Bahamas, another video:
Students wanting to know more often start with textbooks, random web pages, and online encyclopedias, For example:
http://www.eoearth.org/article/Haiti
http://www.eoearth.org/article/Dominican_Republic
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mangrove
Bridging students up from textbook, random web pages and encyclopedia levels to original source laboratory reports and review articles in the refereed (peer-reviewed) journals, improves student science literacy. (I use the Reach Reading
TM technique I developed.
Workshop available.) Even if students only get the gist of the article, they are exposed to a higher level of writing and their science literacy increases. Remind them that they do not need to get everything in the article. As Joan Beinetti says, "No one knows all the words." In fact, in journal article reading, outside ones own field may require even PhDs and MDs to learn lot of new words, so, students should not be upset if every other word looks unfamiliar or even impossible to them. If they know that at the outset, they don't get discouraged. If they manage to wade through 5 journal articles on the same topic, they will become quite knowledgeable on that topic. (I am aware of L+1 but realize that we will not be leaders in science if we don't have people that can read science at a high level. I have data from my own classes that reading journal articles with my Reach Reading
TM technique does not discourage students. Their science literacy improves.)
So, lets look for journal articles on mangroves. Here are some to get you started. Check with your librarian or e-mail me if you need help finding more.
Sherman, R. E., Fahey, T. J. and Battles, J. J. (2000), Small-scale disturbance and regeneration dynamics in a neotropical mangrove forest. Journal of Ecology, 88: 165–178. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2745.2000.00439.x
Here is a quote from the summary of the article cited above:
Mangrove forests are affected by a variety of natural disturbances that differ in scale, intensity and frequency. Small canopy gaps, although common, have not been well studied. We examined the role of lightning-created canopy gaps in the dynamics of a 47-km2 intertidal mangrove community in the Dominican Republic, by quantifying the spatial patterns of overstorey tree distributions, spatial and temporal patterns of gap formation, and tree regeneration in gaps and beneath the closed forest. We hypothesized that regeneration in these gaps would maintain and reinforce species’ distribution patterns across the intertidal gradient in this mangrove ecosystem.
There are perhaps words you and your students won't know. Good! Success! This look at a part of a journal article means you/they have successfully lept (leaped) to a higher level of reading.
Sherman, R. E., Fahey, T. J. and Martinez, P. (2001), Hurricane Impacts on a Mangrove Forest in the Dominican Republic: Damage Patterns and Early Recovery. Biotropica, 33: 393–408. doi: 10.1111/j.1744-7429.2001.tb00194.x
Feller, I.C. , C.E. Lovelock, U. Berger, K.L. McKee, S.B. Joye and M.C. Ball. Biocomplexity in Mangrove Ecosystems. Annual Review of Marine Science, Vol. 2: 395 -417 (Volume publication date January 2010). First published online as a Review in Advance on October9, 2009. DOI: 10.1146/annurev.marine.010908.163809
Rather than feeling lost or overwhelmed by journal articles, encourage new journal article readers to enjoy the challenge, much as one enjoys new levels in a new video game. The unknown is part of the fun. Students can often relate to the video game analogy, but, the thrill of any challenge can be related to the experience of bridging into journal articles. Even though an article may have a lot of words the new journal readers don't know, they can get the gist of this paragraph, or, at a minimum, learn that research articles exist, depending on grade level.
Elementary students have enjoyed seeing the pictures and graphs in journal articles, and, also, knowing that scientists write papers. Undergraduates and graduate students should already be familiar with the existence of journal articles, and already have read at least some. Graduate students should develop the ability to read and digest these articles at a steady, productive pace. College and university students that haven't been at least exposed to refereed journal articles when in elementary and high school, start college at a disadvantage. I hope therefore, that this post has encouraged you to look at journal articles, even if they are hard for you, even if you only get a word or two of their meaning.
Comprehension comes with increasing exposure and time. Having at least seen a copy of a journal article in elementary school, and attempted to read the few words a student can in elementary and middle and high school gets students ready for deeper reading in the sciences. Students in early primary grades need to feel successful just for looking at a journal article, almost as though it were a show-and-tell item.
Some graduate students are seeing them for the first time on entering graduate school. They end up feeling so pressured and overwhelmed when they start to search the literature. Earlier exposure prevents or lessens such anxiety. In the lower grades, you have to make it fun to prevent that same anxiety feeling. The success at the K-12 levels should be just in looking at a tough article and knowing that with work, someday, one could read it. A kindergartener can be amazed that scientists write about the experiments done, for example.
Of course a student with great interest in a science topic will work at reading the article at an early age, even if he or she takes hours on a paragraph of reading, as Einstein reportedly did with his schoolbooks at a young age. Taking your time to read difficult material, even days, has great intellectual company, and can be more recreational than one might think at first. Reading above level in this way can be enjoyable, so, have fun with it.
Don't let anyone feel stressed by looking at these articles. Take a week or two to do a paragraph if needed. Develop vocabulary first. Go slowly. No one should feel bad about this activity. It is a success just to know these articles exist and that they represent the kind of reading scientists do to find answers and suggest solutions. To know that such articles are original source laboratory reports is
a major step in improving science literacy. At higher levels, students can , of course, do more. Yet, the reading should be stress free. Have fun. Now, back to mangroves...
How do you fit mangroves into your science class and still cover the curriculum? There are many standards that can absorb a
mangrove study. The poetry is used to engage students. Now what? Let's look at a few science learning standards where mangroves might fit. These are selected as examples.
From a K-4 (ages roughly 5-9)
http://www.p12.nysed.gov/ciai/mst/sci/documents/elecoresci.pdf In Standard 1, Key Ideas 2 and 3, students study scientific inquiry and write experimental design plans, share their results and use suggestions from others. Journal articles, such as those on mangroves, can be passed around to show that they will be doing the same kind of thing professional scientists do, of course they will do it on their own grade level, nut they will see they are learning the skills used by scientists and that the results of experiments are shared, just as they are doing.
In Standard 2, Key Ideas 1, , and 3 have to do with information systems. Having students learn to access information on line, in print and through conversations to share scientific information. Do you see how you could fit in something on mangroves here? This part of the standards also has to do with separating fact from fiction. You could use it to separate opinions from data and where they are located in laboratory reports on mangroves. For example, the data about
mangrove restoration experiments is data...these are facts. Deciding what to do and suggesting public policy is opinion. Now, compare these to a pretend story that the children write about mangroves and fairies, for example, they will readily sort out, fact, opinion, and fiction.
Standard 6, Key Idea 2 is about using models. Students could build a model of a
mangrove or
mangrove swamp, just as they build a model of the classroom, or, the solar system, or a cell.
Standard 7 is about problem solving. A study of mangroves fits in here. Students can discuss mangroves after watching a video or reading about them and glossing over a journal article or two. Then, students can brainstorm ways to solve decreasing fish populations, or, reducing future storm damage. This problem solving could empower students after natural disasters, too.
At intermediate levels (5-8, approximately ages 10-13 ), Performance Indicator 7.1 encourages students to learn about populations, communities and ecosystems. A study of mangroves can fit in here, for example. They include people along with other organisms, so, how do mangroves affect people? Students will love to answer that.
National Science Standards, on which many state standards are based, encourage inquiry based learning.
http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=4962. You can use the journal articles on mangroves to serve as a starting point for designing experiments. Do the journal article discussions suggest any future research? Or, watch a video on mangroves, or a news clip on a tropical storm or on fish populations. You might want to look at environmental issues in your own area, too, linking to them from the
mangrove study. For example, the students might look at a video on invasive plants that have come into your area and are threatening native plant populations. You might even to be able to bring in a speaker on invasive species. Then teach about planning experiments. Let students design experiments. then, you bring one, or approve what they have designed. This would be appropriate for 4th-12th grades (approximately ages 9-18), modified by the teacher for his or her students' levels and experience.
College biology, chemistry, Earth science, ecology and other classes can also use mangroves in different studies. The professor and/or students just need to think about it and see how mangroves fit into the particular course. Again, poetry can be used as a point of entry to the topic. (Interested in the poem above,
e-mail me telling me what you plan to do with it and I can send you the necessary permission.)
Mangroves are found in coastal areas of tropical and sub-tropical regions around the World. They are of international interest because of their botany, their effect on fish populations, , their ability to lessen damage of tropical storms, among other reasons. Because of the international interest, I have decided to add, "mangroves," in several languages (Thanks to
freetranslation.com). If your language isn't here, please add the word, "mangroves" in your language to the comments below. Thanks.
Chinese: 红树林 (simplified), 紅樹林 (traditional)
German: Mangrovenbäume
Italian: Mangrovie
Japanese: マングローブ
Russian: Мангровые деревья
Spanish: Manglares (European, Latin American, Mexican)
Speaking the science of mangroves is international: Have fun. Learn a lot. Prevent or solve problems. The poetry just adds to the fun.
Photos (c) 2011 J S Shipman
(c) 2011 J S Shipman. All rights reserved.
Post under development. Check back later.
Posts
Source:
Compare my avatar to the Eskimo Nebula.
Did the comparison make you smile?
