Introduction to Biomimicry Today we’re going to be talking about biomimicry.

We are going to start with the kind of houses that animals, birds, insects, etc live in. We live in an environment that we humans built around ourselves. Much like these other species here that also build homes for themselves [briefly explain each picture: shell as a home, termite mound, woodpecker’s home in tree, ant colony].

Our home is complicated and full of different things like homes, factories, offices, roadways, telephones, schools, etc. These are the things which comprise our built environment. We generally don’t think too much about this. We take our environment for granted. But the world is a lot more interesting when you look around and realize that all of this [gesture around classroom] is created, by us, for us.

Where do ideas come from? Today we’re going to talk about where the things in our world come from. A pencil, for example, can you tell me where it comes from? [from a manufacturing plant, transported to stores, made of natural resources like wood from trees and graphic which is mined]. Okay, so that’s where the physical object comes from, but what about the idea for a pencil? Where does that come from?

Where do the ideas come from that people use to fashion all of the objects in our built environment? Like all of these things here. Where did the idea for how to make a bicycle come from? Or a house? Do you have any ideas? Well, people come up with these ideas. Architects design buildings, right? Engineers design bridges, etc. We can call these people designers. They design what’s in our world, how it looks, and how it works.

Designers get their ideas from lots of places Designers get their ideas from lots of places. From own minds, from talking with other people, from doing research on the computer, or from reading books, or doing experiments, and so forth.

We also get our ideas of what to design from nature.

What if we learned to make tape, for example, from geckos What if we learned to make tape, for example, from geckos? Geckos are lizards that can crawl up any surface, even smooth glass…

… because of the unique structure of their toe pads.

Or what if we learned to clean things like leaves do Or what if we learned to clean things like leaves do? Have you ever noticed how things in nature are often so clean? You don’t see janitors out there, dusting off the trees! How do they do it? In the case of this leaf, the lotus plant…

…the surface of the leaf has tiny, tiny bumps on it, that you can’t even see with the naked eye. The bumps cause water to ball up, and the balls of water slide along the leaf pulling off dirt particles as they go.

Or what if we learned how to pump water like a tree Or what if we learned how to pump water like a tree? Trees move water straight up for over a hundred feet, and they use no pumps. How do they do it? We could save a lot of energy if we could learn to do that!

It turns out Nature is FULL of good ideas for how to do things It turns out Nature is FULL of good ideas for how to do things. Afterall, when you think about it, the other species on this planet have had to learn to do many of the same things that we humans have to do – find energy, move things from one place to another, store things, communicate with one another, make materials and fibers, etc. And nature has been doing all of these things for a LONG time. So it’s really good at doing all of these things. For example spider silk [point out lower right photo] is 5 times stronger than steel given its size. Humans still can’t build anything that strong! Getting ideas from nature about how to make things is called “biomimicry.”

BIOMIMICRY Bio – life Mimicry – copy or emulate The science and art of studying nature's best ideas and then imitating these designs and processes to solve human problems. Biomimicry has two parts, “bio,” which means “life”… so biology is “the study of life”… and “mimicry”, or mimic, which means to copy or an even better word is “emulate”…

Using biomimicry, people have learned from beetles how to collect water even in dry places like deserts, like this Namibian beetle does.

They’ve learned from the lotus leaf how to make self-cleaning paint, so that buildings don’t have to be cleaned anymore because the rain does it for free.

They’ve learned from termites and termite mounds how to keep buildings cool in the summer without using expensive air conditioning systems…

And they’ve learned from sharks how to create boats that glide through the water more smoothly, using less energy… and to make swim suits used in the Olympics that have less friction.

So, what does this mean to YOU?

T-shirts that wick sweat like a horned lizard Vitamins based on the diet of forest apes Shoe soles that grip like a mountain goat The sky’s the limit, for example imagine: shoe soles that grip like a mountain goat; t-shirts that wick sweat like a horned lizard; fasteners that stick like burrs; and vitamins based on the diet of forest apes. Fasteners that stick like burrs

Clothing colored without dyes like a butterfly, peacock, or sea slug

Sandwich bags that biodegrade like tethers of blue mussel and zip closed like a feather

Systems interconnected like trees in a old-growth forest Computers as fast as neurons Computer screens that create color the same way as butterfly wings; computers as fast as neurons; and systems interconnected like trees in a old-growth forest Computer screens that create color the same way as butterfly wings

And we can do all of this using manufacturing methods that are much more environmentally-friendly than the way we generally build our world today. Because not only can we get good ideas from nature of what to make, we can also learn how to make these things sustainably, renewably, and with recycled materials, the way nature does it.

What possibilities can you imagine? So what possibilities can you imagine? What creatures will inspire you to think of things to create, or new ways to create them? What creatures will inspire you?

Can YOU look to nature for inspiration?

Here are some ways to start Get outside, take a hike! Sit quietly outside and observe Read books about the natural world Ask questions in science classes Research your favorite creature and all its cool functions Through this class, you’ll have opportunities to do many of the above, and I encourage you to pursue these activities on your own, too.

Always ask Why? and How? Never stop asking why and how about both the natural and built world around you. Remember, it’s your future that’s being created. You can be a part of it. Biomimicry is one tool that you can use to help make that future better!