Welcome to Biomimicry at CREDO 

 

Note: This page is under construction as the former 4-week “Main Lesson” course is being converted to a semester long Elective course. 

email Barton.Clark @Credohigh.org with questions or suggestions! Thank you! 

Weeks 1-3: Student research and presentations. 

The class began with an overview of what the class is about. Engineering with design elements inspired by Nature’s solution to similar problems. As an introductory demonstration, Clark showed the students a recent video clip of a ‘robotic’ Puffin bird which can swim under water (using its wings! and Fly into the air).

From there we spent the next few class periods with students researching various examples of BIomimicry design (primarily short You-Tube video storys) and then taking turns giving presentations on their ‘most interesting’ examples. 

Week 4: (Aug. 31) Introduction to Nature’s tricks for strength!

Learning Objectives for this week:

Understand how ‘stress’ on a beam is described by:

  • Tension
  • Compression
  • Shear Loads
  • Torque. 

New Assignments this week: 

  • Build a paper I-Beam and Rectangular Beam.
  • Feel the Torque: Using meter sticks, binder clips and shoes, students determine the Torque of the system for a variety of angles of the ‘lever arm”. Due Friday, Sept 04. 

Notes to Clark:

  • Use balsa wood instead of paper.
  • Have a ‘stress test’ be part of the process (for points!)
    • student has to ‘call it’ before the beam breaks (so we can still use it for the ‘building’)
  • Use the ‘class set’ to build a building.

Week 5: (Sept 07) Finding Strength in Nature!

Learning Objectives this week: https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal13

  • Learning to recognize Branching and Leaf systems which place stress on the plant or tree
  • Learning to recognize “beams” and other strengthening structures in the plants and trees around us

Additional Resources

New Assignments this week:

  • Download and Install I-Naturalist on their Cell-phones
  • Students went out in to the gardens and sought out examples of plants and trees which had ‘grown’ structural stiffeners.
  • They then took photos to load into I-Naturalist in order to identify them and then sketched out the shape of the plant or leaf or branching pattern in the style of a Nature Journal (the preferred way to document weekly, big ideas). Due Next Tuesday

On Tuesday, we discussed the idea of Finding Strength in Nature and that we would spend time outside in the Garden looking for examples of plants/trees solving problems of stress, strain and torque and identifying I-beams, cylinders, etc. Students were then asked to create Nature Journal Type entries (see the video titles “how to start a Nature Journal” for ideas of how to layout your page.. (color, backgrounds, descriptions of where you were, observations about surroundings, etc.).. which is a bit more than just the basic sketches (shown in the examples from last year; drawing from nature example drawings.

On Thursday, we discussed the classic challenge for Engineers, namely that many times, people start with a Solution they want to build without having a clear idea of the problem. (Clark gave the example of bridges that freeze over in Connecticut).. Having a clear sense of WHAT the problem actually is, takes time. Also, Clark reflected on the various ‘solutions’ we’ve seen so far, and how it seemed like the developers easily came up with the ideas. (not true!). From here we reflected on the idea that, though it IS the goal of this class to come up with ‘engineering’ solutions to interesting problems, the problems don’t neccisarly have to be World Changing ones. (having fun with this project is the main idea). With this in mind, Clark passed out the article: Rheology-of-cats

Cats conform to the container they are placed in. Therefor, Cats can be considered Liquids.. since Liquids be definition, conform to their container. This article proves that cats are liquids: Rheology-of-cats.

Week 6: Sept 14 Where do we start? 

Learning Objectives: 

The following is a list of topics from the book, Biomimicry. This text outlines broad areas for where we might generate better solutions than the ones we currently have. (the student should have some sense of how we currently handle each of these topic areas). 

Additional Areas of focus include: 

  • How we generate heat for our homes and businesses. 
  • How we reduce plastic waste into our oceans and ecosystems
  • How we deliver products to communities (such as medications to people living in remote areas). 
  • How to reduce storm-water runoff into our coastal ecosystems
  • etc.. 

New Assignments: 

  • Review the official website to see the Challenge Details. Students should review the examples of past winners AND review the Submission Guidelines). To hand in by Thursday of this week: At least three areas of interest (past problems that have been solved) and Potential ideas for a solution based on or inspired by Nature. (note: this doesn’t have to be your final project idea, just evidence you’ve been considering ideas which you MIGHT pursue.
  • A list of ‘builder skills’ you currently posses. (i.e., Welding, CNC use, 3-d printing, wood working, blacksmithing, 
  • A list of skills you would like to learn? (see above)
  • Video (start): The Biggest Little Farm (first 30 minutes or so). Notes required. 

Additional Resources of Interest

Tuesday: We first collected last week’s “nature journal” entry, identifying ‘strength in nature’. We then reviewed the concept of the class, which fundamentally is the idea that students would enter the Biomimicry Youth Design Challenge. With this in mind, we discussed that fundamentally, this is a ‘builder’ class.. So the question is/are: What builder skills do you have? What skills would you like to learn? Additionally, we reviewed the major chapters in the book Biomimicry (at left) and used the attached .pdf files as a resource.  In the near future, students will demonstrate their skills.. and once Clark assembles a list of ‘skills to learn’ than we will explore how to do that. From there, students reviewed the website’s design criteria and past winners (see assignment above). For the last 30 minutes of class, and as an extension of the First Topic in the Book Biomimicry on land use practices and ‘how we produce food’, we watched the first part of Biggest Little Farm (on Amazon Prime).. Students were asked to take notes on problems and solutions. (due when we finish the film, next week).

Thursday: We spent the first 30 minutes with students finishing the Summary of Topics and Skills assignment (see above). Clark then returned the student’s attention to How we produce Energy. Tidal Energy is an underutilized source of energy and this Underwater Kite is a fantastic idea to tap into this.