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Bird Biomimicry
Big idea
Students explore how humans use biomimicry to create technological solutions to problems.
In the Film
In Superhuman Body, we see some of the many prosthetics engineers have designed for people with limb differences and we watch Paralympians competing. Track and Field Paralympians use a “blade” prosthetic, designed to mimic the legs of cheetahs.
Objectives
- Students will sort and compare photographs of technologies and the animals they were inspired by.
- Students will plan, create, and test the efficiency of paper airplanes, using aspects of biomimicry to inform their designs.
NGSS Standards
K-2-ETS1-1
Ask questions, make observations, and gather information about a situation people want to change to define a simple problem that can be solved through the development of a new or improved object or tool.
K-2-ETS1-2
Develop a simple sketch, drawing, or physical model to illustrate how the shape of an object helps it function as needed to solve a given problem.
K-2-ETS1-3
Analyze data from tests of two objects designed to solve the same problem to compare the strengths and weaknesses of how each performs.
1-LS1-1
Use materials to design a solution to a human problem by mimicking how plants and/or animals use their external parts to help them survive, grow, and meet their needs.