Writing Poetry Through the Eyes of Science: A Teacher's Guide to Scientific Literacy and Poetic Response

"Writing Poetry Through the Eyes of Science" presents a unique and effective interdisciplinary approach to teaching science poems and science poetry writing in secondary English and science classrooms. A collaboration between two award-winning teachers, one in English, the other in science, this crossover work demonstrates how scientific literacy, knowledge, and methods can inform and inspire poetic response in the classroom and in the field. "Writing Poetry Through the Eyes of Science" illustrates how students can utilize field research, observations, sensory data gathering, poetic writing strategies, and model science poems by poets, scientists, students, and teachers to produce skillful and creative science poetry. The authors explore the commonalities shared by the domains of science and poetry as well as the potentials for intersections and interactions across those two domains. As the science teacher raises scientific questions and suggests technical vocabulary to further language specificity and precision, the poetry teacher demonstrates multiple poetic stances enabling imaginative poetic responses. The active, hands-on, collaborative nature of the classroom atmosphere motivates students to write inspired poems, and students who have never before written poetry can become excited, engaged, and productive. "Writing Poetry Through the Eyes of Science" is built on original field data gathered by Colfax from expeditions to Iceland and other locations around the world as well as the original poetry and poetry teaching techniques of Gorrell. It illustrates basic science poetry writing exercises useful for students of all levels and abilities, and includes student work as well as commentary and feedback on their science poems in each chapter. It then moves to advanced exercises designed to teach the inspired poems of awe, empathy, outrage, protest, meditation, speculation, and perplexity. In the final section of the work, the authors present sample lesson plans specifically designed for the advanced English language and composition curriculum as well as for advanced science courses in research, ecology, and the environment.