University of Minnesota | Rochester

Periodic Table of Haiku - 2009

The primary objective of the Haiku project was to integrate chemistry and creative writing. By working with the characteristics of Haiku structure, the goal of this project was not only to deliver informative factual details of an element, but also to discover an original and fresh perspective of the same element. Students were challenged to portray a sense of focus, story, progress, and completeness within the 5-7-5 syllable structure. The project created sufficient excitement at UMR that Chancellor Lehmkuhle and some members of the faculty and staff (and in one case, the spouse of a faculty member) also decided to participate in the project. What you see here is the first iteration of the "Periodic Table of Haiku" project at UMR.

Group # 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Period  
1 1
H

Hydrogen (H)

Single lightweight gas-
Seeking new bonding partner
Burning for union

-- Kerry Peterson

  2
He

Helium (He)

Helium makes my
Balloon fly to the sky and
Dad’s manly voice high

-- Kelsey Wooner

2 3
Li

Lithium (Li)

I help the depressed
And energize all the world.
Find me everywhere.

-- Kanza Khan

4
Be

5
B
6
C

Carbon (C)

We are carbon based
The sun is the center of all
The sun is carbon

-- Mary McCoy

7
N

Nitrogen (N)


Creates explosions
Produces ammonia
Very abundant

-- Alyssa Craig

8
O

Oxygen (O)

Just two atoms
no color, no taste, no smell
oxygen – elixir of life.

-- Jyothirmai Gubili

9
F
10
Ne

Neon (Ne)

I light up the streets
I am abundant you see
Find me in Vegas.

-- Maddy Hammerlund

3 11
Na

Sodium (Na)

Sea Earth Embracing
Softening winters ice grip
Flare pure orange, release

-- Jay Hesley (Assistant Vice Chancellor)

12
Mg

13
Al
14
Si
15
P

Phosphorus (P)

Phosphorus, fifteen
Help for cleaning and growing   
Oh, bearer of light

-- Kendra A. Weber (Assistant Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs)

16
S

Sulfur (S)

Born Yellow
Near volcano
But I burn Blue
With pure O2

-- Aminul Huq (Faculty, CLI)

17
Cl

Chlorine (Cl)

It turns my hair green.
It makes my eyes burn badly.
Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch!

Number seventeen
Thirty-five and thirty –seven
weighted three to one

Dangerous war gas
Pungent smell, yellow-green look
Safe drinking water

-- Cindy Lehmkuhle (CLI Faculty)

18
Ar

Argon (Ar)

First of the inerts
Noble Argon bargain gas
Not the chickens friend

-- Paula Jewell (Student Affairs)

4 19
K

Potassium (K)

Soft and silver white
Rapidly oxidizes
Relieves aches

-- John Felmlee

20
Ca

Calcium (Ca)

Brittle Bones, old age
No osteoporosis!
Drink milk, exercise

-- Gail Sauter (Assistant Vice Chancellor)

21
Sc

Scandium (Sc)

Fire will not harm
Soft metal, a unique trait
NASA is intrigued

-- Evan Doyle

22
Ti
23
V

Vanadium (V)

My divine crystals
form timeless gray purity.
Beauty makes steel strong.

No beauty shall fade
When the touch of a goddess
Keeps steel strong and bright

-- Rebecca Bamford (Faculty, CLI)

24
Cr

Chromium (Cr)

Gray metal I was
Tasteless and Malleable
No smell, odorless

-- Alex Engelbrecht

25
Mn

Manganese (Mn)

I am in nature
I can give you energy
Look out, I’m toxic

-- Matt Jennings

26
Fe

Iron (Fe)

Purity I had-
oxidized by oxygen
rusty, I became.

-- Yuko Taniguchi (Faculty, CLI)

27
Co

Cobalt (Co)

Surface look shiny,
Brilliantly blue coloring,
Strong magnetic force.

-- Daniel Dziewit

28
Ni

Nickel (Ni)

Discovered by Swedes
Name origin is German
Meaning false copper

-- Jenny Casper (Support for CLI)

29
Cu
30
Zn
31
Ga

Gallium (Ga)

Difficult to find
I still manage to be used
To start to change the world

-- Nicole Herman

32
Ge

Germanium (Ge)

Germanium you
Help us see this world of ours
In different ways

-- Nils Iverson

33
As

Arsenic (As)

High levels cause death
Poison of choice for murders
Cannot be destroyed

-- Haley Gatzke

34
Se

Selenium (Se)

Number thirty-four
Polo Ponies Were Adored
Trace... and no more

-- Robert Dunbar (CLI)

35
Br
36
Kr

Krypton (Kr)

Kr 36
Powerful yet withers
Striking superman

-- Lisa Mason (Database Analyst)

5 37
Rb

Rubidium (Rb)

Silvery Metal
Water is an enemy
Scary reaction

-- Eric Graff

38
Sr
39
Y

Yttrium (Y)

Never found alone
Silvery and Metallic
Transition Metal

-- Nicole Bowers

40
Zr

Zirconium (Zr)

Ancient zirconium,
In poison ivy lotion,
Extremely useful.

-- Suzanne Kent

41
Nb

Niobium (Nb)

Found: 1801
Oxide film blocks corrosion
Shiny appearance

-- Nicole Plotz

42
Mo

Molybdenum (Mo)

Stable under pressure
Combining to share my strength
To become steel alloys

-- Valerie Coe

43
Tc

Technetium (Tc)

Needed help heal tumors
Getting rarer and rarer on earth
Made in radioactive labs

-- Thomas Dachel

44
Ru

Ruthenium (Ru)

Grouped with platinum.
Becomes superconductive
With molybdenum.

-- Steven Ebner

45
Rh
46
Pd

Palladium (Pd)

Mix gold with Pd
A great treat from you to me
Sparkling white gold

-- Adrianne Schmidt

47
Ag

Silver (Ag)

A leisure to give
A difficulty to preserve
Good things cease with time

-- Ellie Linscheid

48
Cd
49
In
50
Sn

Tin (Sn)

When you break me I cry
Shiny silvery metal
Eighteen, Unstable.

-- Anna C Mattson

51
Sb
52
Te
53
I

Iodine (I)

Lustrous and dark grey,
A dye of our colorful world
Make well thyroid cancer.

-- Tom Yang

54
Xe

Xenon (Xe)

General anesthetic
Colorless, odorless gas
Inhale or inject.

-- Angela Feils

6 55
Cs

Caesium (Cesium) (Cs)

Harmless at room temp
Comes in contact with water
Explosive result

-- Zack Barringer

56
Ba
*
72
Hf

Hafnium (Hf)

Never found alone
Zirconium is my twin
Hard to separate

-- Laura Bogenschutz

73
Ta

Tantalum (Ta)

Gray, heavy, and hard
Surgical Appliances
I am said to make

-- Chloe Haon

74
W

Tungsten (W)

Proud warriors stand
dragons breath blackened armor
the battle is won

-- Holly Renn (Program Director)

75
Re

Rhenium (Re)

Lesser known metal—
Err on the side of caution,
Much is still unknown

-- Kayla Potter

76
Os
77
Ir

Iridium (Ir)

Scalpel cuts deep—
Good thing its iridium,
No rust in the corpse!

-- Katie Lopes

78
Pt

Platinum (Pt)

Stronger than you think
More frequent than just jewelry
Brilliant platinum

-- Patrina Thoreson

79
Au

Gold (Au)

Conductive metal
Is in manmade jewelry
Found Naturally

-- Laura Traut

80
Hg

Mercury (Hg)

A Liquid Metal,
Will poison when inhaled,
Exposed to, or ate.

-- Irene Simon

81
Tl
82
Pb

Lead (Pb)

So who will lead us?
If we're not malleable,
Can we then be lead?

-- Joseph Marchesani (Program Director)

83
Bi
84
Po

Polonium (Po)

Radioactive
The air glows blue around it
Kills foes of Russia.

-- Molly Dingel (Faculty, CLI)

85
At

Astatine (At)

Elusive and dark
Radioactive decay
Creates my short life

-- Mary Beth Sancomb-Moran (Librarian)

86
Rn

Radon (Rn)

Solid, yellow glow
Radioactive I was
Cancer treatment use.

-- Kyle Cochran

7 87
Fr

Francium (Fr)


Thirty-three grams in all
My existence is so small;
Deadly - to the core

-- Danielle Montet

88
Ra

Radium (Ra)

A long and great life
My mid-life crisis was at
Sixteen hundred years.

-- Caitlyn Bower

**
104
Rf
105
Db
106
Sg
107
Bh
108
Hs
109
Mt
110
Ds
111
Rg
112
Cn
113
Uut
114
Uuq
115
Uup
116
Uuh
117
Uus
118
Uuo

* Lanthanoids 57
La

Lanthanum (La)

Dancing on the stage
Gleaming silvery and white
Careful not to fall

-- Tara Johnson

58
Ce
59
Pr

Praseodymium (Pr)

Close packed silvery-white
Alloys, such as Welder's mask
The green twin 59

-- Ahmed Mahamad

60
Nd

Neodymium (Nd)

Tinting window glass
I form a stunning red stain
When allied with gold.

Strong magnets I form
To create an MRI.
They see your entrails.

-- Hannah Salk

61
Pm

Promethium (Pm)

Seen only in the stars
Fire from gods, not of the earth!
Now by human hands.

-- Peter Larsen (Faculty, CLI)

62
Sm
63
Eu

Europium (Eu)

Rare and reactive
Metal of silvery white
Brings pictures and light

-- Julie A. Sawyer (Marketing & Communications Assistant)

64
Gd

Gadolinium (Gd)

Superconductive
Stable when dry, not when wet
Enhance Microwaves

-- Nic Scudamore

65
Tb

Terbium (Tb)

Soft, supple, rare, I am
Find me, I’m a click away
Never am I free

-- Naomi Ritter

66
Dy

Dysprosium (Dy)

Silvery luster
Despite your magnetic pull
Difficult to get

-- Stephen Lehmkuhle (Chancellor)

67
Ho

Holmium (Ho)

No threat to Nature
It will attack oxygen
Biggest threat acids

-- Katie Erdmann

68
Er

Erbium (Er)

Oxidized, pink glasses
Improves workability
In air, more stable

-- Brett Sawall

69
Tm
70
Yb

Ytterbium (Yb)

Rare earth metal
When found, abundant I am
In earth’s crust, ocean, sun.

Easily attacked,
Mineral acids! Moisture!
Protection I need.

-- Ashley VanDerWerff

71
Lu

Lutetium (Lu)

Silvery white, rare
Vigorously reacts with air
Handle me with care

-- Chelsea Griffin

** Actinoids 89
Ac

Actinium (Ac)

Bismuth is derived;
Energy explodes forming a
Leukemia mine.

-- Jessica Gascoigne

90
Th
91
Pa

Protactinium (Pa)

Five hundred thousand
I’m too expensive for you
Besides I am poisonous


-- Tanner VanLith

92
U

Uranium (U)

Find me in small doses
I will be of no harm in large
Kidney Disease.

-- Nicole Yates

93
Np

Neptunium (Np)

From uranium
A Nuclear by-product
Silver 93

-- Erin O'Connor (CLI)

94
Pu

Plutonium (Pu)

Radioactive
Bright silvery appearance
Tarnishes in air

-- Anna-Victoria Meier

95
Am

Americium (Am)

From America,
I am created by man
I will be your bomb.

-- Brittany Foster

96
Cm
97
Bk
98
Cf
99
Es

Einsteinium (Es)

Metallic and grey
First H-bomb created me
I am of no use

-- Joshua Vogt

100
Fm
101
Md
102
No

Nobelium (No)

Battle at Bombardment
Ce against C nuclei
Product Nobelium

-- Kelsey Sigfrid

103
Lr

Lawrencium (Lr)

Radioactive
Unstable, most is man-made
Used for lab research

-- Liz Doberstein


This HTML periodic table is derived from one found on Wikipedia.