Pushing Scientific Thought Into Art

[Sean Nash]

(or... "the wicked webs we weave")

The "Sci-Po." Yep- a new name for a new learning element to consider in class. A friend of mine, Dr. Punya Mishra (who is an associate professor of Educational Technology at Michigan State University), recently wrote a post on his blog about a little project that his daughter had been working on. Shreya is ten years old and writes Uniquely Mine, her blog. Give it a look- I think you'll like what you see.

Punya wrote about the blog and the "Sci-Po's" within it as a comment on this blog post of mine about crappy mathematical poetry. Weeks later, another comment to this post was made by Sue VanHattum, a community-college math teacher in California. She then wrote a blog post challenging her readers to write a positive poem about the beauty of math. Her first comment, by a reader named John, is rather impressive.

Punya then responded to this whole woven set of communications by people from all over the country... and of very diverse ages. His post on this emerging thing: "Poetry, Science & Math, OR why I love the web." He was then inspired enough to write a few Math-Po's of his own.

And so here we are, with the creation of this discussion thread on our classroom network. So how will you join in?

As another way to join in to the conversation, consider adding a comment to Punya's most recent post about our classroom discussion.

[Terra Younger]

Ummm I took genetics first semester and the whole "what is life" conversation that we had at the beginning of the year led me to write ^ that.

[Blayr Bolton]

So, honestly this has me worried! Ha. Not your poem because it's good, but more of the idea of the poem and what the future may hold. Catalog babies is not the road I'm looking forward too, especially after watching Gattaca!

[Taylor Woodruff]

Terra, I really like this poem..it's a real eye-opener! I just hope this isn't what we look forward to in our future.

[Kerstyn Bolton]

terra, i really liked this. you took what we learned in genetics and transfigured it into 4 lines. good job!

[Coleman Wade Babcock]

DISCLAIMER:
I suck at poetry so enjoy...

What’s all the galactic commotion?
Why it’s a ginourmas EXPLOSION!!!
It looks like some 4th of July fun but
It’s an exploding SUN!!!

The star is old and big and hot and bright
When it blows up there’s an eye searing light
Brighter than a trillion suns, you realize
This might not be so fun…

This power is like no other known
It could destroy our own ozone.
Even from millions of light years
We are still in there crosshairs

It’s a HYPERNOVA!!!

But do not fret
They are hardly a threat
They’re so far away
We don’t need to worry today
These waves of gamma rays
Wont find us for many days

I found this article about hypernovas in this link

[Coleman Wade Babcock]

snap, snap, snap, snap

[Erin Nash]

Ha!
Snap, snap, snap, snap indeed!

[Aziz Siddikov]

"Choose good carbohydrates"
I want to tell to classmates
Watch what you eat
And here is some tip:

Pay attention to protein package,
But don't forget what it came along.
Also look it up how many fat belong!
Here is how it looks like in word image:

Six ounce of salmon gives you
34 grams of proteins, as i knew.
And also it has 18 grams of fat,
Comparing to meat steak-not bad.

The same amount of meet steak
Has 38 grams of protein,
And also 44 grams of FAT
So be carefull! And it is not fake

By Azizbek Siddikov,
Based on The Nutrition Source
What Should You Eat?

[Shelby Hawkins]

Lab-style Pork in a petri dish;
Chicken, lamb, beef and fish.

Food fresh squeezed from the beaker,
Designed for the rare-food seeker.

Vegetarians do no fret;
Imposter meat poses no threat.

Good for the environment and animals too,
Scientists as farmers. Who knew?

Expensive crops now for humans to feast,
Food for all, not for corn and grain-fed beast.

Astronauts can grow their meat in space.
Country to country this goal is a race.

A hamburger that prevents heart attacks instead of causing them?
This could really be a health innovation, award winning gem.

This idea is only half-baked.
Squishy “almost” meat, no coffee or cake.

Never taste tested and the texture is funky.
Baby strip sized, not juicy or chunky.

Lab-style Pork in a petri dish;
Chicken, lamb, beef and fish.

That’s a lot to expect from one little cell, no?

[This poem was inspired by this article, describing the endeavors of scientists trying to grow artificial meat in their labs.]

[Kerstyn Bolton]

wow, shelby. you did a really good job here because not only did you rhyme, but it all correlated really well with your article. very informing. kudos!

[Kerstyn Bolton]

Plant and animal, how can this be?
One of natures greatest mysteries
Chlorophyll is what it learned to produce
To give it that extra sunlight boost

It ate all the algae from what we could see
And now it can live from 12 hours of energy
So the sea slug is now the new sensation
But how could this be as it's a new mutation?

[Ivory Baldwin]

-- The Most Terrifying Video You'll Ever See --
** okay okay well im deff not going to be a famous poet ever but here it is...

Look at our world now

great place right?

but WHAT IF it looked like this…

apocalyptic floods

and

the sea level raising twenty feet

massive droughts

and

catastrophic famine

WHAT IF... hurricane Katrina was just normal

or

entire forests like the Amazon

completely

burnt to the ground

WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF...

you were pushed out of your home?

WHAT WOULD YOU THINK IF...

widespread warfare began?

would you be able to SURIVE? would this be THE END?

but wait!!

there are choices

to stop these HORRIABLE disasters

it’s SIMPLE really

just like picking a lottery ticket

you want the one that…

WINS

and

you would almost do ANYTHING…

to win RIGHT?

but

WHAT WOULD YOU DO…

to SAVE your would

WOULD YOU…

give up a little?

or

give up a lot?

it’s all about choices

And

we need to ACT

to make the right one

to SAVE MILLIONS of people

we need to act

RIGHT NOW

to SAVE our world

I chose the video "The Most Terrifying Video You'll Ever See"