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Biomimicry Matching Game

Biomimicry Matching Game
Contributors
Mollie Enright
Beyond Benign, Inc.
Annette Sebuyira
Retired K-12 Educator | Beyond Benign, Inc.
Janie Butler
Fostering Learners + Leaders in Sustainable STEM | Science Done Sustainably
Beyond Benign
Beyond Benign, Inc.
Learning Objets
Summary
Biomimicry is the science and art of emulating nature’s best biological ideas to solve human problems. The natural world is made up of very good green chemists. Consider animals and how they make their own shelter and get all the food they need from other things in nature. This is all done without having to use any gas or electricity or taking more than they need, and they produce little waste or waste that can be used by other living things.

Many scientists looking for green solutions are turning to nature for answers to some of our problems with chemical processes. For example, the spider’s web is coated with one of nature’s strongest adhesives, so scientists have recently done studies of what we call “Spider Web Glue.” They found that it is made from proteins with sugars attached to the molecules (glycoproteins). The DNA and enzymes in the spider synthesize this glue, and scientists are working now to find ways to mimic this process.

Biomimicry and green chemistry complement each other incredibly well. For more information and to see the inspiration for this segment of the lesson, please check out: http://www.biomimicryinstitute.org/ and www.asknature.org.
Keyword Tags
Biomimicry
Green Chemistry
Innovation
Technology
Public Understanding/Outreach
File (PDF, PPT, image, etc)
biomimicry_0.docx
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.59877/PHNR3014
Learning Goals/Student Objectives
Learning Objectives: Students will…
• Apply their knowledge of natural images and match them with the corresponding technology
Object Type
Laboratory experiment
Audience
Middle School
High School (Secondary School)
Common pedagogies covered
Hands-on learning
Green Chemistry Principles
Designing Safer Chemicals
Design for Energy Efficiency
Catalysis
Safety Precautions, Hazards, and Risk Assessment
None
NGSS Standards, if applicable
• ETS1-1. Analyze a major global challenge to specify qualitative and quantitative criteria and constraints that account for societal needs and wants.

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Submitted by

Rhianna Kozinski
Published on
Moderation state
Published
Collection
Outreach Activities and Demonstrations
Games and Activities
K-12 Community Favorites
Time required (if applicable)
One 20-40 minute class period

Comments

Saskia van Bergen
Thu, 05/09/2024 - 10:02 Permalink

Also, I added two matches that can be used in the intro activity. 

Coral reef-concrete materials 

Unlike the current way we make concrete which produces CO2, Coral reefs sequester carbon into their structure. Blue Planet  (California) is taking CO2 and seawater and precipitating out carbonate rocks which can be used in place of natural limestone rock (mined from quarries) which is a principal component of concrete.

 

Lotus Leaf-Dam water intakes

Invasive quagga mussels interfere with water systems such as the water intakes at the Hoover Dam. By mimicking the lotus leaf structure and its ability to store lubricants, researchers at the Pacific Northwest National Lab (Washington state) are developing a bioinspired coating called a Superhydrophobic Lubricant Infused Composite (SLIC).  The coating has a similar surface structure to the lotus leaf and then the lubricant layer provides a frictionless surface. 

 

 

Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.