Light Up Your Machines with Biomimicry!
Figure 1. A blacklight illuminates glow-in-the-dark paint on the Ferris wheel.Copyright 2021 Ariel Delos Reyes, Rice University RET
In this activity, students explore different forms of energy such as mechanical, electrical, light, thermal and sound energy and how these energies are converted or change from one form to another. Student work together to build a prototype device of their choice that includes electrical circuitry. They then use biomimicry to add warnings, instructions, and/or signals to their prototype that can be seen in the dark on the road, on the water, in air, or in space.
Engineers often draw ideas from nature to create different designs. For example, burrs on a plant inspired the design of Velcro and studying a gecko’s feet helped to create an improved adhesive material. In this activity, students act like engineers when they use biomimicry to incorporate light energy into their designs inspired by a jellyfish. Researchers are studying a particular type of jellyfish that has bioluminescent qualities that might eventually be used in a range of engineering designs.
After this activity, students should be able to:
- Build and create a model/prototype that uses mechanical, electrical, light, thermal and/or sound energy, such as pulley system, gear, propeller, fan, DC motor, penlight bulb, LED, switches, wires and batteries.
- Recognize and evaluate the limitations of a prototype/model.
- Trace the transformation of energy from one form to another that support the Law of Conservation of Energy.