Copycat Engineers
Figure 1. Engineers study the flexible skin of sharks and dolphins because it adjusts to different water pressures, a useful quality for submarines and airplanes.Copyright National Aeronautics and Space Administration http://quest.nasa.gov/ltc/nps/images/shark.jpg
Students are introduced to the idea of biomimicry—or looking to nature for engineering ideas. Biomimicry involves solving human problems by mimicking natural solutions. Students learn about a few fun examples of the many creative and useful instances of biomimicry followed by then utilizing their engineering skills to prototype applications and products from the associated activity.
Engineers design products that are essential to our health, happiness and safety. To meet these human needs, engineers often look to nature's examples of efficient design solutions. The natural world provides myriad creative solutions that can inspire effective and elegant design ideas.
After this lesson, students should be able to:
- List products or devices that are based on examples from nature.
- Explain why engineers might want to copy ideas from nature in their designs.