This catchy song and entertaining animation introduces the idea of the elements in the periodic table as the basic building blocks of the world around us. Meet the Elements is a collaboration between musicians They Might Be Giants and graphic designers Feel Good Anyway, and is part of the Here Comes Science CD/DVD that hits store shelves later this month but is now available on amazon.

Meet the Elements

An interesting behind-the-scenes note we picked up on the Feel Good Anyway website -  Eric Siegel of the New York Hall of Science helped “create a molecular model that would please both the kids and their fact-loving science teachers. Our hybrid version combines new, more complex/random electron orbits with a Bohr-esque simplified nucleus. We then added some really cute faces for the ultimate in scientific accuracy.”

We love the idea of combining kid-friendly graphics with a toe-tapping rhythm and fact-filled yet interesting lyrics that all kids  will be sure to understand and enjoy. Talk about having fun while learning! This CD/DVD is a must have!

Also check out They Might Be Giants’ earlier award-winning music for kids – Here Come the 123’s.

Meet the Elements Lyrics

Iron is a metal, you see it every day
Oxygen, eventually, will make it rust away
Carbon in its ordinary form is coal
Crush it together, and diamonds are born

Come on come on and meet the elements
May I introduce you to our friends, the elements?
Like a box of paints that are mixed to make every shade
They either combine to make a chemical compound or stand alone as they are

Neon’s a gas that lights up the sign for a pizza place
The coins that you pay with are copper, nickel, and zinc
Silicon and oxygen make concrete bricks and glass
Now add some gold and silver for some pizza place class

Come on come on and meet the elements
I think you should check out the ones they call the elements
Like a box of paints that are mixed to make every shade
They either combine to make a chemical compound or stand alone as they are

Team up with other elements making compounds when they combine
Or make up a simple element formed out of atoms of the one kind

Balloons are full of helium, and so is every star
Stars are mostly hydrogen, which may someday fill your car

Hey, who let in all these elephants?
Did you know that elephants are made of elements?
Elephants are mostly made of four elements
And every living thing is mostly made of four elements
Plants, bugs, birds, fish, bacteria and men
Are mostly carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen

Come on come on and meet the elements
You and I are complicated, but we’re made of elements
Like a box of paints that are mixed to make every shade
They either combine to make a chemical compound or stand alone as they are

Team up with other elements making compounds when they combine
Or make up a simple element formed out of atoms of the one kind

Come on come on and meet the elements
Check out the ones they call the elements
Like a box of paints that are mixed to make every shade
They either combine to make a chemical compound or stand alone as they are