Water Strider and Surface Tension For kids

Welcome to Poetry Friday! This week we are hosted by Bridget Magee, Here.

Thank you Bridget for hosting. Also, I’d like to congratulate Bridget on the release of her new poetry anthology for kids, 10*10 Celebration 10 in 10 Different Ways. In it, you will find the work of many poets who write for kids, including many Poetry Friday friends.

Two of my poems about science, about the phenomenon of surface tension, are included. One is about the Water Strider, which is, as many know, a bug that can walk on water. I found the photos below free on Pixabay. This picture actually shows visually what surface tension is. The water looks like a trampoline.

THE FLOATING WATER STRIDER

Skates on the pond;
it never sinks.

Water is helpful
to bugs when you think

how molecules huddle
together to float

the six legged strider
like a little bug boat.

©Janice Scully 2021

Surface tension also makes a raindrop possible because of the forces that hold water molecules together on the uppermost surface of water.

WHY RAINDROPS ARE ROUND

Water rains down
from clouds to the ground--
plump silver droplets
bounce all around,

each housed in a shiny
watery skin,
keeping its treasure
tightly within.

©Janice Scully 2021

I hope everyone gets a chance to read all the diverse poems, 100 in all, in this collection.

Thank you, again Bridget, for including me along with the work of so many poets I admire, and for hosting today.