6.4.2 Social Science
Suppose the teacher wants to focus on the effects of various kinds of pollution and humans' responsibility to the earth, he/she could use two poems of Hildegard of Bingen:
Poem 1
I am the one whose praise echoes on high.
I adorn all the earth.
I am the breeze that nurtures all things green.
I encourage blossoms to flourish with ripening fruits.
I am led by the spirit to feed the purest streams.
I am the rain coming from the dew
That causes the grasses to laugh with the joy of life.
I am the yearning for good.
Poem 2
The earth is at the same time mother,
She is mother of all that is natural,
Mother of all that is human.
She is the mother of all,
For contained in her are the seeds of all.
The earth of humankind contains all moistness,
All verdancy,
All germinating power.
It is in so many ways fruitful.
All creation comes from it.
Yet it forms not only the basic
Raw material for humankind,
But also the substance
Of the incarnation
Of God's son.
In this exercise the teacher can hand out copies of the two poems to students in groups or pairs. Some groups/pairs will have the first poem, some the second. In their groups the students will:
- Read the poems and say what they mean, how they make them feel
- Discuss if the earth lost its power of verdancy and germination what would happen
- Discuss whether every human being has responsibility to care for the earth
- List off some actions which could be irresponsible on the part of human beings to the earth and the environment
- Share their findings with the whole class
The students' responses open the way for the teacher to introduce whatever he/she wishes about the "care of the earth" in terms of facts, figures, illustrations, diagrams and activities. The students should now be in a receptive mood for appreciating their role as "guardians" of the earth.
(These two poems of Hildegard of Bingen, p.5 and p.46 are found in: Roberts, E. & Amidou, E. (Eds.). (1991). Earth Prayers. San Francisco: Harper San Francisco.)
There are many and varied topics that are covered in Social Sciences in the primary school ranging over the gold rushes, sheep and wheat farming, early colonial and convict times, aboriginal culture, new settlements and topography. It is not difficult to find poetry dealing with these topics and the students could so easily compose some of their own.
Science topics also lend themselves to poetry in terms of wind and water, flora and fauna and minerals.