The Arizona STEM Acceleration Project
Biomimicry and Conserving Desert Resources
Part 2: Designing a Product to Address a Need
Biomimicry and Conserving Desert Resources
Part 2: Designing a Product to Address a Need
A 9th-12th grade STEM lesson
Scott Milne
1/18/24
Notes for teachers
CThis lesson can be taught in the context of evolution and adaptation, but also conservation of resources and can be used in a biology, engineering, environmental science class, and many others.
Time Frame: 1-2 hrs, but can be extended for much longer lessons.
Groups: Students may work in small groups or individually for this lesson.
Focus should be placed on students creating an ADP (abstracted design principle).
**Note this lesson is part 2 after teaching “Biomimicry and Conserving Desert Resources Part 1”.
This lesson can be taught by itself, but some of the background about biomimicry will be missed.
List of Materials
Arizona State Standards
Life Science Standards
HS.L2U1.19 Develop and use models that show how changes in the transfer of matter and energy within an ecosystem and interactions between species may affect organisms and their environment.
HS.L1U1.20 Ask questions and/or make predictions based on observations and evidence to demonstrate how cellular organization, structure, and function allow organisms to maintain homeostasis.
Science and Engineering Practices
-Asking questions and defining problems
-Constructing explanations and designing solutions
Cross Cutting Concepts
-Patterns
-Structure and Functions
-Systems and Models
ELA Standards
9-10.SL.4 & 11-12.SL.4
Present information, findings, and supporting evidence in an organized, developed style appropriate to purpose, audience, and task, allowing listeners to follow the speaker's line of reasoning, message, and any alternative perspectives.
Objectives:
Today students will work in groups to brainstorm an idea for an invention that uses concepts of biomimicry and design to solve a problem related to living in the desert.
Today students will draw comparisons between natural and manufactured strategies for resource use.
Today students will engineer the design for a product and present their idea to peers.
Agenda
1-60 minute lesson
-Can be extended into several longer lessons if desired.
Agenda
-Biomimicry examples
-How can we conserve desert resources?
-Design a product that addresses conservation of resources based on the form and function of a desert organism.
Examples of Biomimicry in the Real World
Biomimicry does not have to be based on the body parts of an organism, it can also utilize ways that organisms behave or ways that they modify their environment to their advantage.
The video to the right discusses applications of biomimicry in the real world, where engineering design uses the strategies of termites to build cooler buildings.
Can you think of some other examples of things you have seen in the real world that could be mimicking the strategies of living things?
Hands-on Activity Instructions
PART 1
With your group, create a list of conditions that organisms may need to deal with in order to survive in their environment.
For each condition you come up with, try to think of an example of an adaptation a plant or an animal has to deal with this condition and how it helps them deal with it. Think back to the form and function table you made for your organism in the previous lesson.
Begin to brainstorm ideas for a product you could make for society that uses the same strategies of the living species you have been discussing.
Hands on Activity Instructions
With your group, imagine you have been given an unlimited supply of money and resources to design a product for society that helps conserve resources like water and temperature. But you must utilize the strategies of biomimicry in your product design.
Chose a strategy from one of the desert species you have been discussing that you think would be useful to mimic in your design and create a poster that shows a sketched blueprint or model of your product.
Be prepared to present your invention to the class. Use the information in the evaluation criteria to guide your thinking.
Evaluation Criteria
Does your design address the needs of resource conservation?
Does your design mimic something in nature?
Does your design replace natural objects with manufactured pieces?
Does your invention generally provide the same function as what you are mimicking?
Can you explain how your design mimics the organism you based it off of?
**Your design does not have to be plausible, or even possible!
Assessment
Does your design address the needs of resource conservation?
Does your design mimic something in nature?
Does your design replace natural objects with manufactured pieces?
Does your invention generally provide the same function as what you are mimicking?
Can you explain how your design mimics the organism you based it off of?
ELA Assessment
Are ELA students able to explain the connections between form and function in their organism?
Differentiation
Differentiation and remediation can be provided in several ways in this lesson. Students can be provided with pictures, videos, real world examples and many opportunities to discuss ideas with classmates. Student groups can be intentionally formed based on level of understanding and reinforcement can be provided through numerous available resources online.
Students also have an opportunity in this lesson to draw their thinking and let their imaginations take control. Creativity and abstract thinking should be encouraged in this lesson.
Extension/Enrichment
Teachers could challenge students to actually build a version of the inventions that they designed if time and resources allow for it.
Students can also watch the excellent TedTalk linked below for more information on biomimicry in society and to facilitate further class discussion.