Science Memory Work: Poems for Elemental Science (Plants, Animals)

Legal disclaimer: I am not the owner or publisher or Elemental Science, and have no affiliation with anyone who is. I’m just an ordinary parent looking forward to using this curriculum with my kids.

As I have mentioned a few times, I like Elemental Science in general and think it will be a very do-able curriculum for this year – I’m looking forward to diving into it.

I initially found it lacking in a few areas, one of which is the poems that are provided to help kids memorize characteristics of various living things (plants, mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians, and human body systems).

A while ago, I created a one-page printout with two original poems to help memorize plant characteristics (parts of a plant; parts of a flower). Now that we’re starting the animals section, I have created SIX original four-line poems detailing the major identifying characteristics of each of the major types of vertebrate.

In case you’re curious, I used the Denver Zoo website – among others - to help me figure out which were important characteristics to include. You may enjoy looking those pages over with your kids, as there are lots of examples of each type of animal.

Unlike the poems that come with Elemental Science, I have used bold type to indicate which are the concepts parents should emphasize. For example, in Elemental Science, one line says “sometimes [birds] like to sing,” however, this is not an actual characteristic, and many birds do not sing. Feathers, not even mentioned in the Elemental Science poem, are considered a defining characteristic (ie it’s not a bird without them), so I have included these in bold print.

So I believe these poems are both scientifically and (sort of) poetically sound. I’d love your feedback – email or comment – if you use these with your kids!

Download this and many other printables from my General Studies downloads page, here.
For Limudei Kodesh (Jewish Studies) downloads and printables, including weekly Parsha / Torah study copywork, click here.

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לימודי קודש/Limudei Kodesh Copywork & Activity Printables

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