Independent Research
Students will conduct an independent research project involving biomimicry of their choice of critters including but no limited to crayfish, Bess beetles, grubs, butterflies, moths, crickets, mealworms, guppies, millipedes, and rollie-pollies. This project will involve their identification of a super power or unique characteristic that would be of interest to mankind to mimic and apply. Their responsibility will be to identify an authentic problem or opportunity for improvement that can be solved by applying the characteristic they've identified for their selected critter. The product they will produce will be modeled after the Biology Design Challenge that is on the Biomimicry Institute's website. The document will include the identification of an authentic problem or valuable enhancement, what nature can offer as a solution, and how the phenomena that occurs in nature might be applied. The assignment can also be approached differently by identifying an authentic problem first and then looking to see what in nature can be instrumental in helping to solve the problem identified. The website of the Biomimicry Institute will play an important role with this project in addition to other related websites. The website for the Biomimicry Institute is www.biomimicryinstitute.org.
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