This children's book pairs tanka poetry with examples of inventions inspired by nature.
Objectives
- Readers will be able to identify a number of innovations and the organisms that inspired them.
- Readers will recognize the structure of tanka poetry.
Page spread from the book
In this picture book, illustrations of plants and animals are paired with photographs of nature-inspired design found around the world. Each pairing is complemented with a tanka poem.
The word tanka means “short song” or “short poem” in Japanese and follows a prescribed five-line structure. In the tanka written for this book, the first two lines of each poem describe a behavior or strategy in nature and the last two lines highlight the human response of innovative design or invention. The third line links them.
Educators can use the examples in this book to explain what is and to help students begin to recognize the connection between a behavior or strategy in nature and similar function in human-made designs. The book could also be used to support creative writing and language arts.
Visit the publisher’s website to purchase the book and to access a free teacher’s guide and a variety of downloadable activities.