Unrelated to this post, I was doing some research on the song, Frog Went a Courtin’ recently and it got me thinking about the role that songs and rhymes often plays in introducing many young ones to the diversity that beckons out there.
So here’s my question:
What are some of your favourite rhymes, songs, stories that you remember (or maybe even still use) from the time you were developing an awareness of biological diversity?
The Twelve Days of Christmas, from 1700s England. Because Robert specifically asked about
I will bold the verses that relate to biodiversity.
On the twelfth day of Christmas,
My true love sent to me
Twelve drummers drumming
Eleven pipers piping
Ten lords a leaping
Nine ladies dancing Eight maids a-milking Seven swans a-swimming Six geese a-laying
Five golden rings! Four calling birds Three French hens Two turtle doves And a partridge in a pear tree!
As I analyze the lyrics now, I see that out of 8 references to biodiversity, 6 of them, or 75%, are about birds! It reminds me of this question I asked:
Yes, thank you Adam. If we went through just by single species, this topic would soon balloon way out of size. But stuff that actually includes several species, that’s what I was thinking of.
“The Unicorn Song” - written by Shel Silverstein and recorded by the Irish Rovers (In 1968! but it’s still in my brain!)
It’s got “green alligators and long-necked geese, humpty-backed camels and chimpanzees, cat and rats and elephants, but sure as you’re born, you’re never gonna see no unicorn!”
From my children’s childhood: “Baby Beluga”, by Raffi (1996)
Okay, there’s no diversity, just the little white whale (and his mama). But it’s one of my favorite ear-worms…
This NFB film – Robert’s first link – might be the winner for biodiversity:
“This . . . [1974] animated short by . . . Evelyn Lambart . . . was inspired by a . . . nursery rhyme, originally published in 1548”
This cartoon contains realistic images of all of the main iNatted organisms: flora, fauna, and fungi. You could actually do a lot of identifying based on this 4-minute animation.
The animation is kind of 3D CGI, similar to the groundbreaking animated show ReBoot. If it’s the same song that Jason meant, then it also contains a lot of biodiversity, although less than the NFB short.
Over in the Meadow is a great song because you can come up with your own animals and rhymes. These kinds of songs are especially useful while hiking with children who are getting tired and you’re singing to distract them! You don’t have to remember the ‘actual’ lyrics because each version I’ve seen published as a children’s books is different already.
I used to read books out loud to 1st and 2nd graders and I had a fondness for song books. I had multiple versions of this song in book form. HIGHLY recommended for people who interact with small children.
Lots of German children songs are about animals and nature. One that fits the “prompt” the best is called “Alle Vögel sind schon da” (all birds are already here).
Then there’s also “Alle meine Entchen” (all my little ducks),
“Fuchs, du hast die Gans gestohlen” (fox, you stole the goose),
“‘Kuckuck, Kuckuck’ ruft’s aus dem Wald” (Cuckoo calls in the forest),
“Ein Männlein steht im Walde” (a little man stands in the forest), which is about a rose hip.
Interestingly, most of these were written by the same guy (August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben)