Songs of Earth and Space
Songs are an effective, powerful tool for teaching facts and concepts in most any field of knowledge. As a college instructor, I have come up with some handy mnemonic songs for remembering the spectral classes of stars, or the names and accomplishments of famous astronomers. As a planetarium director, I use songs that are geared for all ages and levels of understanding, like, "There are Plenty of Stars in the Sky," or, "Ode to Planet #9." Recently I have been branching out into other sciences, with, "Mycologenia Dreaming," "Fungi Isn't Fun," "DNA", "Jocelyn Found a Radio Star," and "The Entymologist's Farewell." Don't get me wrong, I'm not much of a tune-maker. But I can make up new song lyrics on most any topic, and I try to use tunes that are well-known and sing-able, and ideally, in the public domain. The one song I've published so far on YouTube is "Universe Calling!" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gav1BbXYeZ0). In this presentation, I'll introduce some of my work, and provide guidelines for how to write your own STEM-related songs.