Spectacular Science: A Book of Poems

Bibliography

Hopkins, L. B. (1999). Spectacular Science: A book of poems. Ill. by Virginia Halstead. New York: Aladdin Paperbacks. ISBN 978-0689851209.

Review

Lee Bennett Hopkins has collected a variety of poems dealing with scientific topics including wind, magnets, dinosaurs, and other questions about the world around us. Students will be drawn to Halstead’s bright illustrations that accompany each poem. The poems are simple enough for students to comprehend while still containing scientific facts that can be incorporated into curriculum. The form varies by poem, but several poem include elements such as alliteration or repetition like in the poem “Stars” by Carly Sandburg where the first four lines of the five line poem start with “The stars..”. This collection provides students an exciting way to explore the scientific world around them.

Classroom/Library Connection

Recommended audience: younger elementary students

Before reading: Ask students what grows from a seed. Make a list on chart paper of their answers.

During reading: Read the poem aloud to students

The Seed

By Aileen Fisher

How does it know,

this little seed,

if it is to grow

to a flower or weed,

if it is to be

a vine or a shoot,

or grow to a tree

with a long deep root?

A seed is so small,

Where do you suppose

It stores up all

Of the things it knows?

After reading: Put students in groups of 3-4. Take them outside, and give each group a small pot, dirt, and some seeds for various flowers. Have students hypothesize about what these seeds may grow into. Have them record their hypothesis in a science journal. Then they plant their seeds. Allow them to take them back to the classroom to care for them and see what blooms from their mystery seeds!