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Welcome to My Classes, Where Music and Science Unite {New Music Monday}
Have you ever wondered what a song about Mendelian genetics or combustion might sound like? Well, wonder no more. I present to you two songs I wrote for my science classes: one about the four principles behind Mendelian genetics, and the other about the process of combustion. The Four Principles of Mendelian Genetics The lyrics for this song come directly from the Apologia Biology textbook, 2nd edition (you can purchase the 3rd edition here.) Dr. Wile took the older language of Gregor Mendel’s four principles and updated it to fit our modern English. I enjoyed trying to take prose and turn it into song, and then trying to get my…
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Poems About Sunsets from Emily Dickinson and Me
First, Emily Dickinson: The Sea of Sunset This is the land the sunset washes,These are the banks of the Yellow Sea;Where it rose, or whither it rushes,These are the western mystery! Night after night her purple trafficStrews the landing with opal bales;Merchantmen poise upon horizons,Dip, and vanish with fairy sails. Next, me: Sledding at Sunset The grass sleeps,And the willow weepsWith icicles hung low.With the fields tilled,And the brook stilled,Our life begins to slow. We speed down valesOf purple trails,In snowbanks stunned we lie.Rosy skylight fades,And bright orange parades,Like a caravan in the sky. I follow you,Dearest, palest blue,Your mittened hand in mine.The fresh snow meetsOur booted feet;We’ll avoid the…
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Driving Outside the Lines: How Grace Steers Me in a New Direction
When you drive through an empty parking lot, do you stay in the lines, or do you forget the lines and drive at whatever angle you want to? Up until adulthood, I drove inside the lines. I used my blinker whenever I turned, and I stopped completely at every stop sign. I even drove at or below the speed limit. I was a model driver in every way I could be. But something happened to me when I became an adult. I started to question the rules–just a little. Why do I have to drive in the lines, even though nobody else does? Do they know something I don’t know?…
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Let Me Lead You Home {New Music Monday}
I’m excited to bring back New Music Mondays. I wrote the following song to submit for an exhibition at St. Andrew’s College in Scotland. (Here’s a link to the call they put out for artists.) They did not choose to use my song, but I am still looking forward to viewing the other artists’ work. The exhibition begins on Friday, March 19. It was both challenging and fun to prepare a song for submission–I’ve never done that before, and I would definitely do it again. The theme of the exhibition is “In/break,” and one idea listed is “an intrusion of hope.” I used this idea in my song, and also…
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Three Interesting Articles for Science Classes
In my science classes, I like to begin class each Friday by discussing science in the news. I found my first three articles–one for Biology, one for Chemistry, and one for General Science–on World Magazine’s website under the category “Science & Tech.” I chose this article, about scientists cloning a black-footed ferret, for my Biology class. Right now, we’re discussing Mendelian genetics and DNA. I thought this article might generate some interesting classroom discussions, especially about the ethics behind cloning and how we can view cloning from a Christian worldview. I chose this article for my Chemistry class. The article isn’t really related to Chemistry (although we might end up…