Welcome to: Biomimicry- Using nature to inspire sustainable design in science class Friday 9:00 - 11:00 Presenter: Dan Gross [email protected]
May 25, 2015
Welcome to: Biomimicry- Using nature to inspire
sustainable design in science classFriday 9:00 - 11:00Presenter: Dan [email protected]
Goals
Connections: meet each other Adjust Agenda for this session to meet everyone’s
needs Introducing Biomimicry to students Out of your seat biomimicry activities Biomimicry PBL explanation Links on the web/and my website If there is time: Design your own sustainable
invention inspired by nature
Connections
Any background you want to share Experience with biomimicry What you want out of this session
Sipping through a foot, the thorny devil lizard of the arid Australian desert demonstrates its ability to wick water to its mouth via channels between its scales. Scientists hope to mimic the mechanism to develop water-capture technologies for dry regions.
Inspirations Earthwatch Institute
William McDonoughHow could a tree inspire design?
Janine Benyus Thomas FreidmanPreparing students for the 21st century
Nature
Introducing biomimicry to your students
On your Do-Now paper……..
1. What do you think is the most creative piece of technology ever?
2. What human problem does this piece of technology solve?
3. What problem do you think inspired the development of this technology?
What do these have in common? Older students: How does nature inspire technology?
Location: Sahara Desert Location: city in a desert Termite Mound Largest building in Zimbabwe
Energy Design Challenge:
Keeping the Building cool without wasting a lot of electricity
. Can be millions of termites in 1 mound
. Termites never sleep
. Used to be used to find gold
. Side note: Chance to share wonder of natural world
Hypothesis ________________________________________________________________
Temp: constant 87 deg
even though outside temp.
ranges from 100-40 deg in
1 day
Base of the chamber is cool wet mud that has openings that redirects air up.
Constantly build new vents and close old ones to regulate temperature.
Explanation ____________________________________________________________
Building designers saved A/C energy by opening/closing vents and storing cold air.
What do these have in common?
40-50 ft long
Up to 80,000 pounds
Max load of an 18 wheeler
Eat Krill 2” long Hypothesis: _______________________________
_________________________________________
Design Challenge: Harness the most energy possible from well designed blades
Which is more efficient?
VS.
8% improvement in lift
32 % reduction in drag
Ridges on the edges of windmill blades, like ridges on a whale fin, create more power with less drag and more lift
Explanation:
Tangent
“When you step into the intersection of different fields/disciplines/cultures, you can combine existing concepts into a large number of extraordinary new ideas.”
- Frans Johansson “The Medici Effect”
What do these have in common?
Shark skin
. Non-Smooth Skin
. Sharks are self- cleaningSkin does not collect marine life
Boat Keel
Design Challenge: Marine life grows on keel
Marine life on keel =
slower speed
chemicals needed to clean Hypothesis ________________________________________________________________
Sharkskin Paint- with scale-like texture
. 4-5 knots self cleaning
. 67% reduction marine life on keel
How can designers use shark skin design on a
keel to keep marine life off…….
Explanation:
Paint is scaly and allows water to get in-between scales to push off marine life.
What do all of these examples have in common?
Biomimicry: Break down the word
Bio- life Mimicry- imitate
Definition: Developing sustainable technologies inspired by nature
Sustainable: How do you define sustainable? Lasts a long time/reusable Less harmful Uses less resources like energy
Why it works: life has been adapting to earth for 3.8 billion years, we have a lot we can learn from life on earth
Activities to get students thinking like a sustainable designer inspired
by nature Read your card to yourself
Find your match: picture and description Example: card card
more fuel efficient car
Match up nature’s solution with design challenge Example nature’s solution design challenge
box fish more fuel efficient car
Figure out how nature can inspire the solution to the design challenge
PBL
Short video
Pass out PBL
Emphasis on Sustainability
Putting your creativity to the test…Existing Example of Biomimicry
a. identify the part of nature in your picture b. identify the technology in the picture
Read the explanation under the photo.
c. explain how “nature” inspired the technology on your sheet
d. what is the purpose of the technology? e. Why is the technology sustainable.
Examples of completed StudentProjects
with different levels of application
drawings made on Smartboard program
Fennec Fox
The Fennec Fox has reflective fur that keeps it cool. It’s big ears act like a vent for hot air to escape its body.
Hot air leaves here.
Fur reflects the heat to keep the animal cool.
A “Cool” Ride
This car (shown above) has reflective, non-toxic paint so it reflects light. It also has air vents so that cool air comes in and it pushes the hot air out. This lowers the use of air conditioning and stops people from cutting down trees for money.
This is the reflective paint.
Heat leaves the car.
Cool air enters the car here.
Fire resistant
Sand pine
High off the ground so it doesn’t catch on fire so easily.
House off ground Houses off the ground where wild fire are
frequent so it doesn’t catch house on fire as easy. If the support beams are made out of concrete it is sustainable and can be used over and over again.
fire
Biomimicry – scented chemical hair
This giraffe has hair that has scented chemicals which repel insects, ticks, dirt, and microorganisms.
These chemicals are made with local materials using simple ingredients found within the organism, created at room temperature, and produced on an as-needed basis
Reticulated giraffe Bottle/jar with chemicals in it• This is a possible jar filled with
the chemicals which repel insects, dirt, microorganisms, and ticks. It is easy to make and will help protect people from various diseases such as lime disease and malaria. It can also prevent things from getting dirty.
• From studying the giraffe’s hair we can watch the process of how the chemicals are made and mix together. After that, it is a simple matter of making an artificial version.
Our invention is sustainable because all of the ingredients in it are non-toxic and fairly common.
Reticulated Giraffe The reticulated giraffe is very
interesting. Its hair contains scented chemicals that repel ticks, insects, microorganisms and even dirt.
The reticulated giraffe might inspire innovation in paint manufactures to protect the coat and finishes. This invention will also takeaway insects from your house and dirt.
• The tokay gecko has the ability to climb up solid surfaces.
• It uses it’s tiny barbs on it’s hands and feet to create an adhesive surface.
• This will benefit anyone who has to clean This creation was made for climbing up walls or windows.
• This creation could be used for cleaning windows, and painting houses.
• It is even recycle able while being durable.
Chataignier tree and Stability Houses
Chataignier trees have extra supports called buttress roots. In case a bad storm comes by, they have a better chance of
surviving with the buttress roots. Buttress
roots
The design below is an adaptation to help people in the countries prone to hurricanes/ typhoons.
The buttress root design goes beneath the surface to increase stability.
House
w/ design
Our Invention
The Black Jewel Beetle has special sense organs that can sense forest fires up to 50 miles away
This invention is a special wrist band that beeps when there is a forest fire for firefighters and forest rangers. It is solar powered and when it is dark out it uses its stored energy to work.
Bio- Mimic-
The Forest
Fire Detector
The Black Jewel Beetle
Where to go after lesson
What ideas do you have? Build windmill blades to light up a light-bulb (lab) Conservation biology:
Adaptation Population fluctuation
Sustainable design Cost/Benefit Analysis Alternative energy Biomimicry design project http://database.portal.modwest.com/start.php
Snakes skin and shell
Links Page: show some if there is time
Ideas from your classes
-Airplanes modeled after birds (wing and body shapes, falcon beak)-Morphing airplane wings that change shape according to the speed and length of a flight, inspired by birds that have differently-shaped wings depending on how fast they fly-Fish-inspired scales that easily slide over each other to enable the morphing airplane wings-Boat hulls designed after the shapes of Fish-Torpedoes that swim like tuna-Submarine and boats hull material that imitates dolphin and shark skin membranes-Radar and sonar navigation technology and medical imaging inspired by the echo-location abilities of bats-Swimsuit, triathlon and bobsled clothing fabric made with woven ribbing and texture to reduce drag while maintaining movement, mimics shark’s skin