Tag Archives: science week

Be a Science Week Poet!

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Celia at Science Rhymes is eager to receive your rhyming poems (up to 4 verses) – or Haiku – before the end of July. Adults and children (via an adult email address) are invited to submit their creations to feedback@sciencerhymes.com.au. The resulting FLORA-VERSE online anthology will be celebrating #scienceweek2026.

Our poetry collection is already growing. We’ve received poems about Seed DNA; invasive weeds; endangered wattle; and amazing grass trees. Anything plant-related that includes a touch of science, be it biology, chemistry or other STEM-related perspective, is very welcome.

We are particularly looking forward to publishing poems that feature vegetation found in Australia. From seeds to forests; from flowers to bees, this collection will include your thoughts and discoveries about plants and how they shape environments for a myriad of living things.

The use of AI to help create poems is permitted, but conditions apply. These include acknowledging the AI (such as ChatGPT) with the (human) author’s name; checking AI information for science errors before submitting; and answering 4 simple questions about your experience with using AI for this poem. 1) Were you delighted or disappointed with what AI came up with – give a score out of ten. 2) Did you edit the response? 3) Was your prompt simple or specific? 4) Would you do this again next year?

We still totally appreciate your “human-made” poems for their artistic and literacy values! We trust authors using AI will try to improve the creations they receive through editing and carefully checking facts.

Science Week runs from 15th to 23rd August.
Our deadline for receiving poems is currently Friday 31st July.

Find out more at:
https://www.scienceweek.net.au/event/seeds-to-scenery-poetry/ where you can download the SEEDS TO SCENERY pdf for more details and poem examples. Plus, check out National Science Week Events & Competitions for more activities.

Sturdy Mulga Trees by Celia Berrell

Stretching up towards the skies
or weeping boughs drawn by their sides,
iconic mulga, drab and droll,
still represent Australia’s soul.

In sunburnt soils on arid lands,
with long strong roots, the mulga stands.
High heat; cold nights are mulga’s fate.
In drought these trees can hibernate.

Their rugged bark with groovy tracks
can channel drips down trunks of black.
Instead of leaves, they’ve phyllodes.
Flattened stems that clatter breeze.

Mulga blossoms, tassled gold,
are quick to let sweet-scents unfold.
Flowering not for Spring, but rain.
Should water kiss their harsh terrain.

First published in POINTS OF INTERSECTION SCIENCE AND POETRY (page 35), held in the Scottish Poetry Library.  

Brilliantly Dotty! by Celia Berrell

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Quantum just means very small.
A quantity so tiny,
electrons in its atoms will
behave constrained and tidy.

Quantum Dots are very small.
They’re nano-sized or less.
When energized by radiant light,
they vividly fluoresce.

Many modern TV screens
now use such Quantum Dots,
creating glowing hues for scenes
from brightly coloured spots.

Carbon Dots fluoresce in red.
If silkworms on those dots are fed,
they’ll glow in daylight – not in red …
their skin and silk glow PINK instead!

First published in Double Helix #70 magazine by CSIRO Publishing.

Image from Pixabay

Who? by Graham Seal

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Now UFOs are UAPs,

can someone please explain 

who was it who decided

UFOs must be renamed?

Of course, I do not have a clue

who might have been that author,

but I have a question for them:

what’s wrong with ‘flying saucer’?

Note: Unidentified Flying Objects, or UFOs, are now officially known as Unidentified Aerial (or Anomalous) Phenomena, or UAPs.

We Are The Champions by Dannielle Viera

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Some called us lost from Earth’s great zoo
Extinct beyond a doubt
But we are here to claim our prize
As champs of hiding out

Men sought us over Lord Howe Isle
(And brought their rats as well)
So we jumped ship and hid upon
A stack that spikes the swell

Beneath a tea-tree clinging to
The stark Balls Pyramid
We waited to be found by folks
Before we flipped our lid

It took some eighty years before
Two scientists arrived
But even then they couldn’t see
Our black butts had survived

That night we nosed out from our nook
To let them know we’d won
The longest game of hide-and-seek
Insects had ever run

And now we’d like our trophy, please
We phasmids are for real
If you do not acknowledge us
We’ll give you stick – so deal!

Unpacking The Webb Telescope by Celia Berrell

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First, un-pleat some solar cells
and wag that space antenna tail
to give our telescope some power
for data-sending mail.
Open sides, like two long arms,
then stretch-out layers of silver veils
to make a heat-shield from the Sun.
Too hot, our Webb could fail.
Next, erect the smaller mirror
then a radiator,
before reflective parts hinge wide.
That giant mirror’s locked, both sides,
to make a golden-petal flower
with infra-red its viewing power,
to be an ancient star-locator.
Deepest history translator!

Inspired by animation of deployment
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzGLKQ7_KZQ