LESSON PRACTICE THINKING BIOMIMICRY

Transcription

1 PAGE 01 PRACTICE THINKING BIOMIMICRY TIP: Optional Modifications: Print images of the different life events and have students place them along a timeline. If time is short, remove items from the timeline. DESCRIPTION: Students learn about and practice biomimicry design theory and learn about the history of life. BACKGROUND INFORMATION: Be sure to watch this lesson s video on biomimicry and learn more about biomimicry through extra TED talks such as Janine Benyus: Biomimicry s Suprising Lessons from Nature s Engineers ( OBJECTIVES: Students compare their idea of the history of life to the actual sequence of events on Earth. Students think about the diversity of life and how humans can learn from the adaptations organisms have gained through evolutionary time. Students gain a basis in being able to ask the correct questions in order to engineer new ideas learned from organisms. COMMON CORE STANDARDS: CCSS: 11.RST 7: Integrate quantitative or technical information expressed in words in a text with a version of that information expressed visually (e.g. graph, model, table). 11.SL 1: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions with diverse partners NGSCS: LS4.B: Natural Selection only can occur if there is trait variation LS4.D: Biodiversity increases with more species and decreases with extinction LS4.D: Humans depend on biodiversity but also adversely impacts it. NGSCS Cross-Cutting Concepts: 1. Patterns: Empirical evidence is needed to identify patterns 2. Cause and Effect: Systems can be designed to cause a desired effect 3. Scale, Proportion, and Quantity: Patterns observable at one scale may not be observable or exist at other scales. 6. Structure and Function: The way an object is shaped or structured determines many of its properties and functions.

2 PAGE 02 TIME: 55 MINUTES: VIDEO (18 MINUTES); THINK-PAIR-SHARE (7 MINUTES); STATIONS A-B (20 MINUTES); DISCUSSION (10 MINUTES) MATERIALS: Materials for preparation: Obtain A Biomimicry Primer PDF ahead of time *requires advance notice*: Materials activity: Activity A and Activity B worksheets. A way to show a YouTube video in class Access to at least one computer per group for Station A. PREP: Print a copy of both activity worksheets for each student. ACTIVITY: 1. Have students read the biomimicry primer before coming to class. 2. In class, watch Janine Benyus: Biomimicry in Action at benyus_biomimicry_in_action 3. Begin with a Think-Pair-Share activity. Have students individually think about the following question: The film showed an apartment building designed to regulate temperature by using ideas learned from termite mounds. Make a list of different houses that organisms build. (Possible answers: spider webs, beaver dams, ant tunnels, birds nests, ant tunnels, beehives). If you were going to build a house, which of those organisms would inspire your design? (one minute). Have students form groups of four to discuss their thoughts with the other students. Discuss as a class (total of five minutes). 4. Give students a minute to individually choose a man-made object inside or outside the classroom. 5. Assign groups to Activity A or Activity B. Hand out the appropriate worksheets to each student. 6. Students doing Activity A will share their thoughts about their object and its issues and will be brainstorming together. Students doing Activity B will be working together to figure out the history of life on Earth. 7. Rotate activities after 10 minutes.

3 PAGE 03 DISCUSSION: 1. How would you describe biomimicry to a friend? To a younger student? To your parents? 2. In the film, biomimicry is about learning from organisms as models. How does this compare to farming organisms or to genetic engineering of organisms for human purposes? 3. The rest of nature has thrived on this planet for 3.8 billion years without destroying the environment. Humans have been around roughly 200,000 years and in the last couple centuries have been struggling to live in harmony with the rest of nature. How has living on Earth for 3.8 billion years helped the natural world around us survive and thrive? 4. Were you surprised to learn that ideas from nature have inspired people to create new technologies? What are examples of things that organisms do well stated in the film? 5. How are toxic chemicals that humans create different from the ones that nature creates? 6. What ecosystem do we live in? 7. When was the last time you were outdoors for more than 1 hour? Where were you? What organisms were around you? 8. Through what process have these organisms gained so many different adaptations to living on Earth? TEACHER TIPS: For more background information about biomimicry, check out: If your class will not have access to computers, omit Question 3 from Station A. REFERENCES: Second Nature: The Biomimicry Evolution. Biomimicry 3.8 Institute Web. 21 Oct < pdf>.

4 PAGE 04 STATION WORKSHEETS/INSTRUCTIONS STATION A Problem Solving 1. Think of the man-made object you chose. What is something very specific with this object that you think can be improved, or has annoyed you recently? Talk to your group to brainstorm ideas for everyone s object (Example: A creaking door, blinds that don t block out the sun well enough in the morning, a phone screen that breaks too easily, launching rocket makes too much noise). Write two problems that your object has associated with it here: 2. Now it is time to practice asking the right questions. How does nature do what we want to do? To do this, we need to learn to Biologize our questions and/or any functions we can think of. This means to ask, How would nature (verb)? Successful questions will have verbs that make sense in nature. For example, asking how would nature launch a rocket silently? would not be a good question because nature doesn t launch rockets. A more relevant question would be how would nature propel objects silently? You can rephrase questions using different keywords, leading to new ideas. Write one or two questions that you individually came up with here: 3. AskNature.org can be a good resource to see if your question comes up with reasonable results. Log on to AskNature.org and type in your question. What organisms came up in your search results? Do you think they might inspire a new design someday? Write at least one organism that came up on your search:

5 PAGE 05 STATION B Make Predictions! In the film, Janine Benyus informs us that life has been around for 3.8 billion years. At this station, predict which events happened first and then list them on the timeline below. Compare it to the actual timeline AFTER! History of Life on Earth: Using a pencil put the following events in order #1-21: PREDICTIONS: Earth formed First birds Evolution of genus Homo First land plants Atmosphere and oceans form First bacteria First dinosaurs First primates First soft-bodied animals (jellyfish) First animals with a backbone First amphibians First animals with a hard shell First organisms with many cells (multicellular algae) First cell with a nucleus (eukaryotes) First reptiles First land animals (insects) First flowering plants First mammals Mass extinction of many organisms including dinosaurs Oxygen begins to build up in the atmosphere Kelly Slater wins his first World Championship ACTUAL:

6 PAGE 06 Now place the numbers where you think they belong on the timeline below: PREDICTIONS: 4.5 billion years ago today ACTUAL: 4.5 billion years ago today 1. Describe something that surprised you about a particular length of time. 2. Did the earliest life require oxygen? Explain. 3. Who was around longer? Dinosaurs or humans? Explain.

7 PAGE 07 KEY Answers for History of Life on Earth Timeline: 1. Earth Formed (4,500 Ma*) 2. Atmosphere and oceans form (3,800 Ma) 3. First bacteria (3,600 Ma) 4. Oxygen begins to build up in the atmosphere (2,300 Ma) 5. First cell with a nucleus (eukaryotes) (2,000 Ma) 6. First organisms with many cells (multicellular algae) (1,000 Ma) 7. First soft-bodied animals (comb jellies) (550 Ma) 8. First animals with a hard shell (550 Ma) 9. First animals with a backbone (505 Ma) 10. First land plants (475 Ma) 11. First land animals (insects) (400 Ma) 12. First amphibians (360 Ma) 13. First reptiles (300 Ma) 14. First dinosaurs (232 Ma) 15. First mammals (200 Ma) 16. First birds (150 Ma) 17. First flowering plants (130 Ma) 18. Mass extinction of many organisms including dinosaurs (66 Ma) 19. First primates (60 Ma) 20. Evolution of genus Homo (2.5 Ma) 21. Kelly Slater wins his first World Championship (1992) *In this timeline, Ma (for megaannum) means "million years ago"