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.
I love both of your poems, Janice, especially the line “plump silver droplets.”
Congratulations! I haven’t received my copy yet, but I’m looking forward to reading all of the poems!
Congratulations, Janice. I’ve studied surface tension with students, continue to be fascinated that it works! I love your “little bug boat” & “watery skin” & will remember those ‘ideas’!
Janice, congratulations on having your poems included in Bridget’s anthology. These are two winners, for sure. Reading the water strider poem while seeing that amazing photo is a science lesson in itself. Well done!
Janice, congratulations on having two poems accepted for Bridget’s new book. The first two lines of your bug poem, “Skates on the pond;
it never sinks,” works beautifully with the photo. The last line is a great conclusion. I like the way you brought a lesson on molecules to the reader with a great description.
I loved your poems Janice, and the pictures you found perfectly illustrate them! Congratulations!
I love both these poems! Can I use them with my students? I think it would be fun. What’s especially cool is that the poems read effortlessly…which is not at all the case when writing them, I’m sure. Wonderful post!
Sure you can. I’d be honored!
Thank YOU, Janice for combining science and poetry in such a clever way in the Tension category…twice! I loved your poems and I knew the world needed to read your words. Thanks for allowing me to share words. 🙂
These poems are great, Janice! I love how they combine science and poetry and flow so naturally. That “little bug boat” is perfect and the idea of water droplets within their own skin also delights me.
Both are such excellent poems, Janice — love them!! Congrats on being included in the new anthology. That bug on water photo is amazing!!
Janice, Congratulations on being in Bridget’s Anthology. (No surprise.) Your two science water tension poems are terrific. I love how the rain drop is holding “treasure” within. And your water strider is “skating on the water” surface. Great images, great teaching poems. Kids (and teachers) will love these.
Janet Clare F.
Thank you Janet. I enjoyed your Find Ten romp! Your grandchild, need to learn this game. Hope all is well.
Correction: Your grandchild will need to learn this game. 🙂
I spent a good few seconds searching for TEN in your two water poems…and then I figured it out! Nicely succinct, both of them, and a great pairing. Congrats on your inclusion in this anthology, Janice!
I was like Heidi, puzzling for just a bit about your “ten.” Perfection! Also perfect — the way you explained water tension! “bug boat” indeed!
Congratulations, Janice, on having your poems in Bridget’s book. I like them both. I was pleasantly surprised, like others, that you did not have TEN in your poems but only alluded to the word tension – one of the words Bridget chose for 10 x 10. Great work! It was refreshing and I learned to look at calls for submissions a different way! Thanks.
What great poems! My now-grown son & I used to take walks to the neighborhood pond, and the water strider poem reminds me so much of our time there. Congratulations on the anthology. That’s fun.
I have always loved water striders. They are magical. Congrats on being included in this book.
Janice, congrats on the inclusion of both of these gems! Science as poetry (or poetry as science?) is the best. 🙂