Disseminating scientific ideas via poetic expressions
In a unique and engaging approach to science education, students are encouraged to explore the wonders of kōwhai trees through poetry. This innovative method, developed as part of the Teaching and Learning Research Initiative project "Envisioning student possible selves in science: Addressing 'plant blindness' through place-based education", was conceived by Chloe Stantiall.
By the end of this activity, students should be able to recognise that scientific learning can be shared in a variety of ways, share their scientific understanding of kōwhai through poetry, and illustrate their poems in a way to add more meaning.
In this activity, students create poetry about aspects of kōwhai trees using content vocabulary and careful observations. The English and science curriculum strands are connected through the topic literacy through science. Additional activities include collecting kōwhai seeds, planting kōwhai seeds, observing kōwhai, and creating kōwhai infographics.
The poetry approach helps students deepen their understanding through descriptive language and imagery, engage emotionally and cognitively with the subject matter, and develop both scientific knowledge and communication skills.
When students write poems about kōwhai trees, they explore scientific concepts creatively, enhance analytical and reflective skills, engage emotions and deepen connection, promote social learning and communication, and activate brain functions beneficial for science learning.
This approach turns scientific learning into a multi-dimensional experience that blends creativity, emotion, and analysis. It not only makes scientific content memorable but also develops broader skills like observation, expression, and critical thinking, helping students internalize and communicate scientific knowledge effectively.
The students, having spent a week collecting and planting kōwhai seeds and observing kōwhai trees, had an incredible amount of knowledge and vocabulary to use in their poetry. The poems and illustrations in this activity demonstrate careful observations of kōwhai trees and flowers made by the students.
Ready-to-use cross-curricular teaching resources, such as "Poetry with Fred the Thread - middle primary" and "Poetry with Fred the Thread - upper primary", are available for educators. A recorded webinar titled "Exploring mātauranga in the classroom" where Chloe talks about these resources is also accessible. Additionally, professional development webinars like "Science and literacy - making connections", "Fostering literacy through primary science", and "Science through picturebooks" are available for those interested in furthering their knowledge.
This activity can work as a stand-alone lesson or as part of a wider teaching/inquiry sequence about mātauranga Māori of kōwhai. The project was assisted by researchers Maurice M. W. Cheng and Bronwen Cowie from The University of Waikato. The article was published by Referencing Hub media.
- By engaging in this activity, students are not only learning about kōwhai trees scientifically, but they are also enhancing their education-and-self-development, as they delve into the field of science through poetry and illustration.
- As part of the learning process, students are encouraged to share their scientific understanding of kōwhai trees through poetry, thereby demonstrating that science can be expressed in creative and diverse ways, such as in the realm of literature.
