The Ground Beneath Our Feet: Part 3

Four local primary schools have taken part in an exciting project funded by The Royal Society. Each class spent two days in North Lincolnshire Museum, exploring the history, geology and science of the ground beneath their feet.

On the second day, the schoolchildren worked with local poet Graeme Williams to bring their learning life, creating poems that drew on their experiences in the Museum.

In the Jurassic Sea gallery, you will see their fabulous poems on display, illustrated by local artist Charlotte Portier-Tock. The children reference their time spent in the Museum galleries, objects from the Collection they handled, science experiments they conducted and questions they asked.

Image shows poem text:  
I am a fossil from an ancient time, 
Who swam in seas with others of my kind, 

And underwater, hunted for my prey, 
Until, at last, I sank down to the bottom. 
‘An ammonite’ the fossil hunters called me,  
They dug me up and put me on display. 
 
I am a shark’s tooth from a while ago, 
The other creatures were afraid of me, 

Until, one day, I fell out of its mouth, 
And sank down to the bottom of the sea. 
I waited there through good times and through bad, 

Until the sea dried up and I was found. 
I'm a rock called Basalt, I am hard, 
I can be found in many different sizes. 
I'm truly strong and often very tough. 
I am a common rock as you will see, 
My surface rough, yet weathered by the years, 

I’m found within the ground beneath your feet. 
I am a huge, old, woolly mammoth tooth, 
I ground the mammoth’s food, both day and night, 
From grasses sweet to shrubs and leafy trees, 
I crushed the fibrous plants with all my strength.  
I am a mammoth’s tooth from long ago, 

And found within the ground beneath your feet. 
I’m marble, I stand sparkling in the sun. 
I've always been a rock of quality. 
From proud Egyptians to Victorians, 

They shaped me for their huge historic buildings. 
Ungracefully, I have been chipped and hit, 
Before the builders placed me to perfection. 

Images: 
Coloured illustration of a woolly mammoth surrounded by foliage. 
Picture of shark swimming in the ocean, hunting fish. 
Small image of a shark’s tooth. 
Sketch of a living ammonite, floating in the water. 
Picture of a large rock being chipped away at by a hand axe.

We would like to thank all those involved, especially the incredible work of the children from those schools involved:

  • St. Norbert’s Catholic Primary Voluntary Adademy
  • Scunthorpe Church of England Primary School
  • Bottesford Junior School
  • The Riverside Federation
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