SAMPLE: Music

Title: Bonnie Tyler and Eclipses!

Background: This project contains two key ideas.

a) Music often describes events in the world around us. Sometimes, these events are also described by science. Bonnie Tyler's Total Eclipse of the Heart is an example of this music-science link.

b) Science frequently uses the metaphor to present a certain idea in a simplified way. The metaphor may look at the idea from a very different viewpoint than in a science textbook. But, creating a useful metaphor requires a clear understanding of the idea being explained.

Process:

1. Please print and read the song lyrics. One of several places to find the lyrics of this song is: http://www.bonnietyler.com/lyrics/eclipse.html

2. Use the lyrics to help you answer the following questions.

Questions:

1. The song's emotional content must be analysed first to help you create your eclipse metaphor.
a) What is her overall mental state?
b) Two key lyrics are: "Your love is like a shadow on me all of the time; I don't know what to do and I'm always in the dark." How do these lines tie in with the song title?

2. Sketch a solar eclipse, showing:
i) the source of the light
ii) what is blocking the light
iii) the area on which the shadow falls.

3. a) Name the degrees of a solar eclipse.
b) What are the types of shadows associated with a solar eclipse?
c) Emotionally, the lady is in which type of shadow?

4. Now, sketch your visual metaphor of a solar eclipse as it relates to the emotional nature of song.
Show: i) the source of the "light"
ii) what is blocking the "light"
iii) the area on which the shadow falls.

5. List two other science- related song titles by Bonnie Tyler. Look at: http://www.bonnietyler.com/albums.html