Singing Science Records
http://www.acme.com/jef/singing_science/Age Range: 5-10 (The songs are geared for early elementary school-age children, however, there are aspects that the whole family can enjoy.)
What fun! ClickSchooling subscriber Cie Buschle recommended today's website
that offers free science songs!
As the website owner explains, "As a kid my parents got this six-LP set of
science-themed songs for my sister and me. They were produced in the late
1950s / early 1960s by Hy Zaret and Lou Singer. We played them incessantly.
In February 1998, I found the LPs in my parents' basement. I cleaned them
up...burned them onto a CD...and encoded them into MP3, so now you can hear
them on the web."
When you get to the website you will see a menu of about 80 songs divided
into subject categories that include:
*Space Songs - Learn about The Milky Way, the Sun, Shooting Starts,
Longitude and Latitude, the Ballad of Sir Isaac Newton, Friction, Gravity
and more!
*Energy and Motion Songs - Find out about Energy, Electricity, Engines,
Kinetic and Potential Energy, Chemical Energy, and Atomic Energy.
*Experiment Songs - Listen to songs that provide instructions on how to
conduct experiments that teach about Magnets, Air, Shadows, Rock, Gems,
Minerals, and more.
*Weather Songs - Discover information about the Stratosphere, Wind, Clouds,
Warm and Cold Fronts, Humidity, Hurricanes, Tides, Snowflakes, and other
weather marvels.
*Nature Songs - Learn about Leaves, Trees, Insects, Mammals, Fish, Birds,
Silk Worms, and other natural wonders.
*More Nature Songs - Sing along to songs that teach about Metamorphosis, How
a Frog Becomes a Frog, Fossils, Why the Sky is Blue, Parts of a Flower and
more.
Simply click on the version of the tune you want to download, wait a minute,
and the song will begin to play. The lyrics are not included, but the
performers annunciate very clearly. After just a listen or two - you'll be
able to sing along!
You'll recognize some of the tunes as classics set with new lyrics. I
sampled a few of the songs and was surprised at how much science language is
included.
For example, in "Why Does The Sun Shine" the lyrics include these lines:
The sun is a mass
Of incandescent gas
A gigantic nuclear furnace
Where Hydrogen is built into Helium
At a temperature of millions of degrees.
And in "How Does a Frog Become a Frog?" the lyrics include this:
How does a frog become a frog
Squatting on a bump of a log
How does a frog become a frog
Instead of a big pollywog?
In the spring the frogs have mated
The females eggs were expelled
Then the male frog fertilized the eggs
and said farewell.
Soon the eggs were tiny embryos
The embryos became pollywogs...
The songs are typical of the 1950s-1960s era and are sure to bring a wave of
nostalgia to those familiar with the innocence of those times - even though
it was the "Atomic Age." :) Parents, as always, should preview the songs to
determine the suitability of the content for their own children.
Cie wrote: "I listened to some and found them fun and hilarious. They are
definitely dated, but I still think young kids will enjoy them and older
kids will laugh at them while still learning. They can be listened to
directly on the site, or downloaded if you are more 'techno-savvy'."
This is great stuff! Enjoy!