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Consider this overarching as you take a look at examples of bio-inspired design.  

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Consider this overarching as you take a look at examples of bio-inspired design.  

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By applying nature’s design lessons, we can create solutions that help support a healthy planet.

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"How cutting edge engineering borrows nature's innovations"
1. Listen to the PBS Newshour story by clicking on the video at the top of the page
2. Try to re-read the article to pick up on any important engineering "tips" you might have missed. Share out one thing that surprised you in listening or reading this story by commenting on this box.

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Bio-inspiration Video from KQED (11 min)

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Bio-inspiration Video from KQED (11 min)

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For hundreds of years, scientists have been inspired by design ideas from structures in nature. Now, biologists and engineers at the University of California at Berkeley are working together to design a broad range of new products including revolutionary adhesives and new methods of locomotion.

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I made a bed that warms up and its for dogs .It mimics lizards because the lizard is a cold blouded animal but it has one tube type of thing that makes the lizard warm when the sun goes down and i made this for my dog Peggy she loves it (:

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Super Science Article: Wild Robot Designs! 

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Super Science Article: Wild Robot Designs! 

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Read this article then scroll down for a follow-up activity.
password: science3

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Newsela Articles on Biomimicry & Design 

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Newsela Articles on Biomimicry & Design 

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Log in HERE

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Newsela is an Instructional Content Platform that supercharges reading engagement and learning in every subject.

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Follow-Up Writing Assignment: Wild Robot Designs 

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Follow-Up Writing Assignment: Wild Robot Designs 

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1. Click this Google Drive link.
2. Sign in to your Google Drive.
3. Find the document with your name.
4.  Complete the document (chart and questions).

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With sturdy, spiral trunks and deep roots that intertwine with neighboring trees, a live oak is a force to be reckoned with. Find out how architects and engineers are starting to think like a tree when designing safe and resilient structures.

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Using Live Oak Trees as a Blueprint for Surviving Hurricanes | Think Like a Tree

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More on Bio-inspired robots...the way of the future?

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More on Bio-inspired robots...the way of the future?

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Biomimicry and Butterflies: How Nature is Inspiring Design and Innovation

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Biomimicry and Butterflies: How Nature is Inspiring Design and Innovation

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Scientists believe the iridescent wings of the morphos butterfly could be used in technology to benefit humans.

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Biomimicry and Butterflies: How Nature is Inspiring Design and Innovation

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Architects & structures inspired by nature's creations

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Before you dive into the rest of this Quest, check out these great videos to learn how designers study nature to improve the ways we make stuff. It's no wonder we're so inspired by the natural world- nature has been "product testing" for billions of years!

Watch 1: What Is Biomimicry? (Fast Company)
Watch 2: 8 Useful Technologies Inspired by Nature (SciShow)
Watch 3: Science Copies Nature's Secrets-Biomimicry (IFSVND)
Watch 4: Hidden Miracles of the Natural World: Louis Schwartzberg (TED)

Test the power of nature and find the strength of an eggshell with this project from Science Sparks. Search for instances of biomimicry in your life. Grab a pencil and paper or download an Inventor's Notebook from the Spark Lab. Then, make a list of the products you use each day. Can you think of something in nature that might have inspired their shape or function? Draw a detailed picture of one of the most amazing things you have observed in nature (for example: a turtle's shell, a field of flowers, a porcupine's spine). What is distinctive about its shape? What are its key parts? How does it "work"? How is it connected to other parts of nature? Read teacher John Marconi and his students' very detailed report about green cities and think about your town. What parts of your city or town are your favorite? Least favorite? How would you improve them? Draw inspiration from nature as you design improvements. Lead a discussion with your family (or online with your neighbors!). Ask everyone about a specific problem they or your community is facing. How do you think nature could solve this problem? Observe nature for a few minutes and then write a poem about the form and function of something that caught your attention. Ask your parents or teacher for help sharing your poem online with #EarthSchool. Write a letter to someone from your local government or to a community leader. Explain what biomimicry is, then show them a nature-based design that can improve your community. Suggest what they could do to help make this happen. Need help constructing your letter? Here's a sample. Watch a new movie on biomimicry and climate change narrated by pioneering biomimicry expert, Janice Benyus, and share the link with a friend. Feeling really ambitious? Attend her entire online course. Watch this video from Berkus Design Studio to learn how architects get inspired by the natural world Watch designer Neri Oxman talk about Design at the Intersection of Technology and Biology and learn about other ways to get original perspectives from biomimicry. Read about 7 surprising technologies inspired by nature with Live Science. Design an improvement for your neighborhood. Pick a problem (litter in a local park, not enough parking spaces, a run down building, for example), and use what we've learned about biomimicry to figure out a way to improve the issue. Before you begin, brush up on your design skills with this tool, which is used by world class designers at Stanford University. (for ages 15-18)

Create a new civilization. Lots of species live underground. Could humans? Design an underground civilization with this project developed by educator John Spencer. This Earth School Quest was created by the following incredible educators and environmental experts: Richard Matthew, Steve Davis and Bill Tomlinson, University of California Irvine

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Nature teaches us to solve problems beautifully, intelligently, and sustainably. Did you know Velcro was inspired by burrs stuck in fur? Or that engineers made spider-shaped robots? This design process is called biomimicry. To begin, let's watch a video to learn why architect Mick Pearce designed a building inspired by a termite mound.

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As you explore this website, ask yourself these questions:

How does nature solve problems?

How can we use those same strategies?

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Introduction

The Biomimicry Institute defines biomimicry as the science and art of emulating Nature's best biological ideas to solve human problems. For billions of years nature-animals, plants, and even microbes-has been solving many of the problems we are still dealing with today. Each has found what works, what is appropriate, and what lasts.

Biomimicry and biomimetics come from the Greek words bios, meaning life, and mimesis, also meaning to imitate. Scientist and author Janine Benyus popularized the term biomimicry in her 1997 book Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature. Benyus believes that most of the problems that have ever existed have already been solved by nature. Benyus suggests shifting one's perspective from learning about nature to learning from nature as a way to solve human problems. Sustainability issues are among those that can be addressed by applying the biomimicry process to a project. Utilizing an integrated design process can help open up opportunities to identify biological solutions to building problems and include the perspective of nature in the design process-as it is likely that nature already offers a solution.

Description

Humans have always looked to nature for inspiration to solve problems. Leonardo da Vinci applied biomimicry to the study of birds in the hope of enabling human flight. He very closely observed the anatomy and flight of birds, and made numerous notes and sketches of his observations and countless sketches of proposed "flying machines". Although he was not successful with his own flying machine, his ideas lived on and were the source of inspiration for the Wright Brothers, who were also inspired by their observations of pigeons in flight. They finally did succeed in creating and flying the first airplane in 1903.

Recent success stories exist in terms of how biomimicry can be applied to building design. While buildings serve to protect us from nature's extremes, this does not mean that they do not have anything to learn from the biological world. In fact, nature regularly builds structures with functionality that human-built structures could usefully emulate. Biomimetic research, science, and applications continue to grow and are already influencing the next generation of building products and systems as well as whole building designs.

For example, photovoltaic systems, which harvest solar energy, are a first step at mimicking the way a leaf harvests energy. Research is underway to create solar cells that more closely resemble nature. These cells are water-gel-based-essentially artificial leaves-that couple plant chlorophyll with carbon materials, ultimately resulting in a more flexible and cost-effective solar cell. (For more information see this article in Scientific American)

The bumpy surface of a lotus leaf (computer graphic close up view below-left) acts as a self-cleaning mechanism allowing dirt to be cleansed off the surface naturally by water, for instance, during a rain shower. Even the smallest of breezes on the plant causes a subtle shift in the angle of the plant allowing gravity to remove the dirt without the plant having to expend any energy. This same idea has been applied to the design of new building materials such as paints, tiles, textiles, and glass that reduce the need for detergents and labor and also reduces maintenance and material replacement costs.

Researchers have also developed non-toxic, formaldehyde-free wood glue that is now used in hardwood, plywood, and particleboard projects. The researchers discovered how to do this by understanding how blue mussels attach firmly under the water using flexible, thread-like tentacles.

The Thorny Devil, a desert lizard, gathers all the water it needs directly from rain, standing water, or from soil moisture, against gravity without using energy or a pumping device. Water is conveyed to the lizard's mouth by capillary action through a circulatory system on the surface of its skin. This same concept could be applied to passive collection and distribution systems of naturally distilled water which would reduce the energy consumed in collecting and transporting water by pump action (e.g., to the tops of buildings), and provide other inexpensive technological solutions such as managing heat through evaporative cooling systems, and protecting structures from fire through on-demand water barriers.

Damage to an organism naturally elicits a healing response. Bone is also known to detect damage to itself and can heal within range of its initial strength. This same concept has been applied to synthetic material design and contributed to the development of a self-healing polymer for use as building materials. Tiny capsules containing a healing agent are embedded in the polymer. When the material is damaged, the capsules rupture and release the healing agent, which repairs the cracks. The self-repairing capabilities of materials can contribute to reduced maintenance and material replacements costs as well as increased durability. Self-repairing materials can also be made lighter, resulting in reduced embodied energy and greenhouse gas production.

Application

The Biomimicry Institute, a not-for-profit organization that promotes learning from and then emulating natural forms, processes, and ecosystems to create more sustainable and healthier human technologies and designs, suggests that the design team look at nature as "model, measure, and mentor." There are hundreds of technologies inspired by proven design systems existing in nature. One can become more familiar with these examples by broadening and deepening an inner awareness of nature.

Ask Nature, developed by the Biomimicry Institute, is a free, open source, online project designed to inspire innovation and technologies that create conditions conducive to life. To accomplish this, Ask Nature is organizing the world's biological literature by function along with providing access to biological blueprints and strategies, bio-inspired products and design sketches, and access to experts to talk with and collaborate with to solve problems. To utilize the tool and apply this broader method of thinking into a building project, begin by asking:

How would nature solve green building challenges?

How does life make things?

How does life make the most of things?

How does life make things disappear into systems?

The Biomimicry Guild, in collaboration with other organizations, developed a practical design tool called the Biomimicry Design Spiral that uses nature as a model. This tool outlines guidance using the following steps to apply the tool effectively and systematically to the creative process. Below are listed the basic steps in that process.

Identify-Develop a Design Brief of the human need.

Translate-Biologize the question; ask the design brief from Nature's perspective.
Ask "How does Nature do this function?" "How does Nature NOT do this function?"

Discover-Look for the champions in nature who answer/resolve your challenges.

Abstract-Find the repeating patterns and processes within nature that achieve success.

Emulate-Develop ideas and solutions based on the natural models.
(Nature as measure is embedded in the evaluate step of the Biomimicry Design Spiral.)

Evaluate-How does your design align against your design brief and Life's Principles, the successful principles of nature?

(For more detailed information on this process, see The power of the Biomimicry Design Spiral.)

As noted by Biomimicry 3.8, since nature works with small feedback loops constantly learning, adapting, and evolving their environments and processes, building design professionals can also benefit from this way of thinking. This would enable designs to evolve in repeated steps of observation and development, uncovering and/or seeing new lessons, and applying these constantly throughout the exploration of a design.

By applying this process, it is possible to create buildings, products, and/or processes that are inherently more sustainable, perform better, use less energy, eliminate or create less waste, reduce material costs, and open up opportunities to create new products and potentially new markets by spawning innovation.

Examples

Esplanade Theater

The Esplanade Theater and commercial district in Singapore, designed by DP Architects and Michael Wilford, hosts an elaborate building skin which influenced the look and function of the interiors, inspired by the multi-layered Durian plant with its formidable thorn-covered husk. The Durian plant uses its semi rigid pressurized skin to protect the seeds inside, just as the building exterior is part of an elaborate shading system that adjusts throughout the day to allow sunlight in but protects the interiors from overheating.

Eastgate Centre

Termites have an amazing ability to maintain virtually constant temperature and humidity in their termite mounds in Africa despite outside temperatures that may vary from 35°F to 104°F (3°C to 42°C). Researchers initially scanned a termite mound and created 3-D images of the mound structure, which revealed construction that can influence human building design. The Eastgate Centre, a mid-rise office complex in Harare, Zimbabwe, uses a form of passive cooling similar to how the termite mound works and stays cool without air conditioning and uses only 10% of the energy of a conventional building its size.

Dives in Misericordia Church

In the early 1990s, scientists at the Italcementi Group in Bergamo, Italy, produced a self-cleaning concrete that keeps buildings from tarnishing from pollutants in the atmosphere. Photocatalytic particles in the cement oxidize the pollutants coming into contact with the hardened concrete surface, that help to maintain the original surface appearance, a very white concrete, over time. The idea was inspired in part by self-cleaning plants and contributes to the reduction of maintenance and repair costs to the building.

Emerging Issues

Research and analysis continues to grow in this field with more species documented from which to draw inspiration. Below are a few of the recent studies that are continuing to influence design, engineering, science, and technology.

Spiders can create web silk as strong as the Kevlar used in bulletproof vests. Engineers could potentially use such a material-if it had a long enough rate of decay-for suspension bridge cables, artificial ligaments for medicine, and many other purposes. (See The Biomimicry Institute for more information and the latest research at biomimicry.org)

Other research has proposed adhesive glue from mussels, solar cells made like leaves, fabric that emulates shark skin, harvesting water from fog like a beetle, and more.

Recently, researchers from ETH Zurich, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, have been incorporating biomimetic characteristics to structural engineering problems in an adaptive deployable tensegrity bridge (tensional integrity based on a synergy between balanced tension and compression components). The bridge can carry out self-diagnosis and self-repair utilizing a machine learning algorithm.

Relevant Codes and Standards

While many codes, standards, and regulations serve as a starting point for establishing sustainability goals and targets, it is possible that by first seeking the sources of inspiration and examples from nature, the design community may improve upon these standards and create models that go beyond any of those outlined below.

ASHRAE Standards

Executive Orders

Federal Codes

Legislation

Additional Resources

WBDG

Building Types / Space Types

Applicable to all Building Types and Space Types

Design Objectives

Aesthetics, Cost-Effective, Functional / Operational, Productive, Sustainable

Guides & Specifications

Building Envelope Design Guide

Below Grade Systems, Foundation Walls, Floor Slabs, Wall Systems, Fenestration Systems, Roofing Systems

Organizations

Publications

Architecture

Animal Architecture by Jennifer Owings Dewey. 1991. Examines how creatures like arthropods, vertebrates, birds, and rodents build their homes.

Design and Nature II by Ed M. W. Collins et. Al. 2004. Contains proceedings of 2nd international conference on design and nature. Brings together researchers around the world on a variety of studies involving nature's significance for modern scientific thought and design.

Wonders of Animal Architecture by Sigmund A. Lavine. 1964. Examines how creatures like arthropods, vertebrates, birds, and rodents build their homes.

Biography

Buckminster Fuller's Universe by Lloyd Sieden. 1989. Explores Fuller's examination of significant underlying principles in nature.

Biology

Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature by Janine Benyus. 1997. Demonstrates how nature's solutions to survival needs have been the creative jumping-off points for individuals seeking solutions to human challenges, developing, or simply revitalizing processes or products.

Exploring the Way Life Works: The Science of Biology by Mahlon B. Hoagland., et. Al. 2001. Comprehensive overview of the natural world from patterns in life to energy and evolution. Devoted to the wonder and unity of the natural world.

Life Itself: Exploring the Realm of the Living Cell by Boyce Rensberger. 1998. A digest of everything currently known about the mechanisms by which living cells perform their myriad of tasks.

Natural Earth, Living Earth by Miranda Smith and Steve Parker. 1996. Full-color photography shows how living things interact with the functions and conditions of the earth.

The Way Nature Works by Editor Jill Bailey. 1992. Drawing on a series of questions that children might ask, a team of scientists proposes answers in this manual for adult readers. They address large issues such as atmospheric phenomena, ecosystem relationships, and animal communication with brief essays, each well illustrated with charts, diagrams, and photographs.

The Work of Nature: How the Diversity of Life Sustains Us by Yvonne Baskin, et al. 1997. Baskin examines the threats posed to humans by the loss of biodiversity. Biodiversity is much more than number of species-it includes the complexity, richness, and abundance of nature at all levels.

Chemistry

Biomineralization by Stephen Mann. 2002. Describes a new type of chemistry that brings together soft and hard material for the design of functionalized inorganic-organic materials.

Green Chemistry: Theory and Practice by Paul T. Anastas, John Charles Warner. 2000. Overview of the design, development, and evaluation process central to green chemistry. Explores alternative solvents and catalysts, benign syntheses and biomimetic principles, among many other topics.

Design

Biologic: Environmental Protection by Design by David Wann. 1990. Guide to designing our way out of the environmental conundrum we are in by taking a system's view of technology-asking, "how does it fit in?"

Deep Design: Pathways to a Livable Future by David Wann. 1996. A new way of thinking about design by asking: "What is our ultimate goal?" The idea is to produce designs that are sensitive to living systems.

Design for the Real World, Human Ecology and Social Change by Victor Papanek. 1984. One of the world's most widely read books on design. Author provides a blueprint for sensible, responsible design.

Design in Nature: Learning from Trees by Claus Mattheck. 2004. Describes and verifies external shape laws in nature. Also explores self healing. Many optimization examples.

Design Lessons from Nature by Benjamin De Brie Taylor. 1974. Describes strategies in the plant kingdom with some suggestions on their relationship to human designs.

Design with Nature by Ian L. McHarg. 1969. A blend of philosophy and science, author shows how humans can copy nature's examples to design and build better structures.

Economics/Business

Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution by Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins, L. Hunter Lovins. 2000. Three top strategists show how leading-edge companies are practicing "a new type of industrialism" that is more efficient and profitable while saving the environment and creating jobs.

Nature of Economies by Jane Jacobs. 2000. Dissects relationships between economics and ecology through a multilayered discourse around the fundamental premise that "human beings exist wholly within nature as part of a natural order."

Engineering

Biomimetics: Biologically Inspired Technologies by Editor Yoseph Bar-Cohen. 2005. Explores biological models useful to engineering and the challenges awaiting future research.

Design Homology by David Offner. 1995. A mechanical engineering textbook that contrasts human designs with nature's designs.

Mechanical Design in Organisms by Stephen A. Wainwright. 1982. Surveys the mechanics of living systems and components of living systems. Interface between mechanical engineering and biology.

Nature and Design by Ed M. W. Collins, et. Al. 2004. Comprehensive introduction to common scientific laws of both the natural world and engineered worlds. Features mathematics, physics, chemistry, thermodynamics, biomimicry, mechanical engineering and history of science.

Evolution

On Growth and Form: The Complete Revised Edition by D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson. 1992. Classic work of biology and modern science sets forth seminal "theory of transformation"-that one species evolves into another not by successive minor changes in individual body parts but by large-scale transformations involving the body as a whole.

General Science

Basic Nature by Andrew Scott. 2002. Fundamental concepts of modern science.

Nature and Design by Editor M. W. Collins, et. Al. 2004. Comprehensive introduction to common scientific laws of both the natural world and engineered worlds. Features mathematics, physics, chemistry, thermodynamics, biomimicry, mechanical engineering and history of science.

Innovation

Invention by Design by Henry Petroski. 1996. Philosophical and cultural study of the process of invention including case studies.

Nature: Mother of Invention by Felix Paturi. 1976. The book provides an overview of bioinspiration, noting that scientists can learn from natural structures of all sizes and put their knowledge to use in a number of ways, often by studying nature at the nanolevel, where the distinction between nature and human technology is often blurred.

The Gecko's Foot: Bio-Inspiration, Engineering New Materials and Devices from Nature by Peter Forbes. 2005. Presents technologists' pure research into nano-anatomy, followed by their applied and, as many entrepreneurs hope, commercial mimicry of nature's ingenuity.

Material Science

Biomimetic Materials Chemistry by Stephen Mann (Editor). 1995. Provides a unified, up-to date approach to the applications of biological concepts, products and processes in material research.

Biomineralization by Stephen Mann. 2002. Describes a new type of chemistry that brings together soft and hard material for the design of functionalized inorganic-organic materials.

Biomolecular Materials by Editor Christopher Viney et al. Materials Research Society. Volume 292. 1992. Design of material synthesis, assembly, processing and physical optimization strategies based on examples from nature

Structural Biomaterials: (Revised Edition) by Julian F.V. Vincent. 1990. The book presents a biologist's analysis of the structural materials of organisms, using molecular biology as a starting point. It is an excellent introduction to the field which attempts to stimulate interest in biomaterials.

Mechanics

Life's Devices: The Physical World of Animals and Plants by Steven Vogel, Rosemary Calvert. 1988. This is an entertaining and informative book that describes how living things bump up against non-biological reality.

Life in Moving Fluids by Steven Vogel. 1996. This book is for biologists who want to come to the beginning of a quantitative understanding of a wide variety of adaptations, and for general readers who want to see how fluid mechanics work in a varied and often surprising context.

Structure, Form, Movement by Heinrich Hertel. 1963. Explores various means in which nature manifests structure, form, and movement.

The Biomechanics of Insect Flight by Robert Dudley. 2002. Explores insect physiology, functional morphology, paleontology, aerodynamics, behavior, and ecology. The book excels as a synthesis of all these fields, and as a unique source of information on the subject of insect flight as a whole.

Patterns

The Power of Limits: Proportional Harmonies in Nature, Art and Architecture by Gyorgy Doczi. 1981. The Power of Limits was inspired by the continuity of natural patterns. The book explores how certain proportions occur over and over and are also repeated in how things grow and are made.

The Self-Made Tapestry: Pattern Formation in Nature by Philip Ball. 2001. This deep, beautiful exploration of the recurring patterns that we find both in the living and inanimate worlds will change how one thinks about everything from evolution to earthquakes.

The Shape of Life by Nancy Burnett. 2002. Based on the National Geographic -Sea Studios Foundation series seen on PBS. Every animal that ever lived fits into one of only eight basic body plans. Those basic forms have given rise billions of species of animals and continue to define the shape of life on Earth.

General

The sustainability revolution: portrait of a paradigm shift by Andres Edwards. 2005.

Resilience thinking: sustaining ecosystems and people in a changing world by Brian Walker. 2006.

Design and Analysis Tools

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The Biomimicry Institute defines biomimicry as the science and art of emulating Nature's best biological ideas to solve human problems. For billions of years nature-animals, plants, and even microbes-has been solving many of the problems we are still dealing with today. Each has found what works, what is appropriate, and what lasts.

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Why Are Scientists Trying to Make Fake Shark Skin?

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Why Are Scientists Trying to Make Fake Shark Skin?

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The reading level in this article is a bit high but has some great examples of bio-inspired engineering. Take a look and do your best to work through it!

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Why Are Scientists Trying To Make Fake Shark Skin?

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Faux marine animal skin could make swimmers faster, keep bathrooms clean and cloak underwater robots

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Biomimicry — a word derived from bios, meaning "life," and mimesis, meaning "to imitate" — refers to the study of nature's successful design solutions and the imitation of these designs and processes to solve human problems. There are many examples of human-engineered applications and living things that exhibit similar fundamental characteristics. Sometimes, this happens unintentionally: think of the similarities between a canoe or kayak paddle and a freshwater turtle leg. At other times, the inventor deliberately mimicked something in nature.

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Get bio-inspired and create a prototype of an invention inspired by nature. 

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Get bio-inspired and create a prototype of an invention inspired by nature. 

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Create a nature-inspired innovation (a product, service, or system) that solves a problem in our world.

This can be a local problem, a state or national problem, or a global problem.

It can be inspired by a specific plant, animal, habitat, or other extraordinary thing in nature.

Take a look at the Biomimicry Institute's Global Design Challenge 2020 for a look at a real-life challenge like ours!

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Design Brief

Earth has always been a changing planet, but the rapid climate and ecological changes humans have set in motion in the last century are like nothing any species has experienced before. Hungry for energy, food, and other resources, our growing populations are pushing Earth's systems toward a frightening and well-documented tipping point. The science is clear and so is our imperative. To reverse course, we need a new generation of innovators who know how to create human materials, products, and systems that are regenerative, circular, and generous to all species. Are you ready to learn how to design generously through the Biomimicry Global Design Challenge?

Our challenge is this: Create a nature-inspired innovation (a product, service, or system) that aligns with one or more of the following Sustainable Development Goals, outlined by the United Nations:

End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture

Ensure sustainable food production systems

Implement resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity and production and also help maintain ecosystems, strengthen capacity for adaptation to climate change and other disasters, and progressively improve land and soil quality.

Read more about this goal here.

Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all

Achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all

Improve water quality by reducing pollution and untreated wastewater and increasing recycling and safe reuse

Increase water-use efficiency across all sectors

Expand international cooperation and capacity-building in water and sanitation-related activities including water harvesting, desalination, water efficiency, wastewater treatment, recycling, and reuse technologies.

Read more about this goal here.

Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all

Substantially increase the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix, including clean cooking fuels for billions of people

Provide access to clean and efficient energy for the 13 percent of the global population that still lacks modern electricity

Read more about this goal here.

Build resilient infrastructure and promote inclusive sustainable industrialization

Develop quality, reliable, sustainable and resilient infrastructure with a focus on affordable and equitable access for all

Promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization, significantly raise industry's share of employment and gross domestic product, in line with national circumstances, and double its share in least developed countries

Upgrade infrastructure and retrofit industries to make them sustainable and environmentally sound

Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable

Ensure access for all to adequate, safe, and affordable housing, transportation and basic services

Strengthen efforts to protect and safeguard the world's cultural and natural heritage

Significantly reduce the number of people affected by disasters, including water-related disasters

Reduce the adverse per capita environmental impact of cities by paying special attention to air quality and municipal and other waste management

Read more about this goal here.

Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas, and marine resources

Prevent and significantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds, particularly from land-based activities, including marine debris and nutrient pollution

Minimize and address impacts of ocean acidification

Enhance the conservation and sustainable use of oceans.

Read more about this goal here.

Protect, restore, and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation, and halt biodiversity loss

Ensure the conservation, restoration, and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems and their services

Promote the implementation of sustainable management of all types: Combat desertification and deforestation and restore degraded land and soil

Take urgent and significant action to reduce degradation of natural habitats, halt the loss of biodiversity, and prevent extinction of threatened species

Read more about this goal here.

By combining human ingenuity with nature's genius, the possibilities are infinite! Every single person can make a difference, even by 1°. How many #degreesofchange can you make with nature as your guide and mentor?‬

Why nature-inspired?

Nature is the best model we have for a sustainable, regenerative way of life. In order for humans to persist and thrive on a healthy planet, our systems must work in concert with nature's systems. Biomimicry provides a pathway to the solutions we need to accomplish this. Consider how plants effortlessly turn CO2 into energy and materials every hour that the sun shines. What if we learned to do the same? What if CO2 were not the poison of our era, but instead the feedstock of a global carbon-sequestering economy? Nature offers incredible inspiration and time-tested strategies that can be emulated and applied to the SDGs in realms as diverse as energy, water, transportation, buildings and infrastructure, food systems, health, behavior change, and more.

What are we looking for?

The Biomimicry Global Design Challenge calls for design concepts addressing any aspect of climate change adaptation, mitigation, and reversal in any sector of the economy. We know that climate change is a complex problem; a hairy knot made up of hundreds, or even thousands, of other problems all woven together. But this diversity means there are also just as many solutions out there waiting to be discovered. Successful teams will define a concrete, well researched area of focus for their design efforts and apply the core concepts and methods of biomimicry in developing a solution. We are especially interested in projects that go beyond familiar approaches by identifying unique leverage points for change, removing barriers to the adoption and spread of existing solutions, and/or clearly demonstrating how biomimicry can lead to new, novel, or more effective solutions.

What are we NOT looking for?

Biomimicry after the fact: If you already have a design solution, please do not retroactively argue that it is biomimetic or "like nature" just to apply to this challenge. Often, it is quite obvious to our judges when this is the case. If you are working with an existing design, we'd rather see how you applied biomimicry to improve it. How can learning from nature lead you to a stronger, more sustainable outcome?

Common characters: As news stories and information about biomimicry has spread, many case studies and biological strategies have become common (e.g. the water capturing abilities of the Namib Desert beetle). While this is great for public awareness, creativity and innovation are limited when designers don't look beyond the common cast of characters. For this reason, designs that rely on biological strategies, design concepts, or biomimetic technologies that have already been well documented should offer significant comparative advantages or greater depth of emulation.

Getting Started

Any university students and new biomimicry learners have the ability to participate in this challenge - regardless of whether you've been trained in biomimicry or not. All it takes is a partner or a team. Here you get to use your creativity and critical thinking, all while finding inspiration from nature.

Here are five steps for a successful Challenge submission:

1. REGISTER FOR THE CHALLENGE

Sign up on the Challenge website, or log in if you already have an account. All team members will need to create an account to sign up for the platform. By signing up for the 2020 Challenge you will be the first to receive helpful tips and new content developed to assist you through all parts of your submission. You will also gain access to our mentor pool, where you can work first-hand with subject matter experts around the world.

2. LEARN ABOUT THE CHALLENGE

Once you've formed a team, read through the Challenge brief and the Rules & FAQs, including the submission requirements.

3. LEARN ABOUT BIOMIMICRY AND SCOPE YOUR DESIGN

Tap into our resources, including the Biomimicry Toolbox, to determine a specific challenge to work on and to familiarize yourself with the various steps in the Biomimicry Design Spiral.

4. CREATE YOUR SUBMISSION

Work with your team to put together your submission according to the submission requirements. As a participant in the Challenge, you are able to access our network of experts and mentors who volunteer their time to help teams with their Challenge projects. You can find a gallery of mentors in the Resources section.

5. SUBMIT YOUR INNOVATION

When you're ready to submit, have ONE team member (the "team leader") log in and pay the Challenge entry fee. The team leader must complete the submission form and upload all of the required documents. Final submissions are due June 1.

QUESTIONS?

Contact us at challenge@biomimicry.org - we're here to help!

Rules and FAQs

The Biomimicry Global Design Challenge is a team competition. You must be part of a team of 2-8 individuals in order to enter. Each member of the team must register for the Challenge individually, but only one team member needs to submit an entry.

Eligibility: The Biomimicry Global Design Challenge is open to teams of independent professionals and college and university students anywhere in the world. Note: We also have a Youth Design Challenge for middle and high school students. Learn more about the Youth Design Challenge here.
We will be extending our early-bird rate deadline for the submission fee by one month to April 30, 2020.

Early-bird rate: Student-only teams $40; professionals or mixed teams of students and professionals $100

Standard rate: Student-only teams $50; professionals or mixed teams of students and professionals $120

Submission deadline: June 1, 2020 at 11:59:59 pm Pacific Daylight Time (GMT-7)

Registration

Registering on this website is the first step in joining the Biomimicry Global Design Challenge. You must be registered in order to receive support emails, access the mentor directory, and submit to the Challenge. Begin the registration process here. All team members should register for the Challenge individually, however only one team member will submit on behalf of each team.

Team Formation

The Biomimicry Global Design Challenge is a team competition. In order to submit an entry, you must be part of a team with two-eight members. Each member of the team should register for the platform and create an account, in order to access tools, receive updates, and learn about free training opportunities. However, one team member ("team leader") will create and complete a team's submission.
Please note: Unlike in past years, teams will not be required to create a team profile and link individual member profiles to the team. Rather, the team leader will be required to list all team member names and email addresses on the submission form.
Is there a fee to register?

No, there is no fee to register on the challenge website. However, if you decide to submit an entry to the challenge and compete for any of the awards, you must pay a submission fee (See Submission Requirements).

Do I have to register to begin working on the challenge?

You do not have to register to begin working on the challenge. However, by registering for the challenge, you will have the opportunity to connect with others in our design challenge community, including mentors, and receive updates. Ultimately, you will have to register for the challenge in order to submit a design and compete for awards.

What is the required team size?

Teams that choose to submit a design must include two to eight team members.

Can I register for the challenge as an individual?

Yes, you can register for the challenge and access our resources as an individual. However, in order to submit you will have to either join an existing team or recruit additional team members to work with you.

Can I submit to the challenge as an individual?

No, you may not submit to the challenge as an individual.

Can I participate on more than one team?

No, you can only participate on one team for the challenge.

Eligibility

The Biomimicry Global Design Challenge is open to teams of independent professionals and college and university students, anywhere in the world. Entries from individuals will not be considered. All entries must involve a technology, product, service, or process that addresses a challenge related to the current theme. The entry must show a clear connection between a biological mechanism, process, pattern, or system, and the technological solution submitted; i.e., the solution must emulate a natural model(s). Entries must describe an entirely new solution and represent a given team's unique work and intellectual property.

For middle and high-school students, we also offer a Youth Design Challenge. Learn more about the Youth Design Challenge here.

Prizes

We are looking for entrepreneurial teams that have an interest in taking their ideas beyond the concept phase, with our support, as well as for teams of university students who want to participate in the Challenge as a learning opportunity.

Up to 10 finalist teams will be invited to participate in the Biomimicry Launchpad, a program that provides early-stage biomimicry design teams the knowledge, skills, and connections needed to turn their project into a startup. The Launchpad begins in late summer/early fall 2020 and includes a 10-week digital program that provides business training and startup coaching, access to prototyping funds, pro bono IP legal assistance, mentorship support, access to software tools, and coaching and technical consultations valued in excess of $12,000. Additionally, the Biomimicry Institute covers all costs for two (2) people per team to attend an immersive, in-person Biomimicry & Business Bootcamp.

Student Details

College and university students, including associate degree students, undergraduates, MBAs, MD candidates, JD candidates, other masters degree candidates, and PhD candidates, are eligible to pay at the student-rate. Students must be enrolled at the time of submission or have graduated within 6 months of the submission deadline. Any team consisting of a combination of students and professionals must pay the professional rate. However, faculty and mentors can work with student teams in advisory roles without jeopardizing a student team's submission fee.

Will my team's intellectual property be protected?

Entrants retain ownership of all ideas and materials/images submitted to the challenge and only the BGDC program staff and the judging panelists will have access to complete entry materials. However, the Biomimicry Institute retains the right to reproduce and distribute materials submitted for public view (e.g. images, overview text, and video). With your permission, we may also share all or portions of your presentation PDF for educational purposes. Entering teams must recognize that any information submitted as part of the Challenge is at risk of inadvertent public disclosure. The organizers, judges, and other affiliates of the Challenge will NOT enter into nondisclosure agreements with entering teams. If you have a question that is not addressed above, please contact us at challenge@biomimicry.org.

Submission Requirements

Submission Method

Submissions are accepted electronically via the Challenge platform only. We do not accept submissions by post mail or any other method.

Submission Form

All entries must be submitted via the online entry form. In order to gain access to the submission form, a team must be created. Once a team is created on the Challenge platform, and if the submission period is open, the team leader can access the submission form via his/her team profile, from the Challenge page, or under his/her "My Activities" menu. (My Activities is accessed by clicking on the user icon at the top of the site after logging in). Note: Only the team leader can begin the submission process.

Fees and Payment Method

Entry fees are due at the beginning of the submission process. The team leader will be prompted to pay the fee when s/he begins a submission draft. Payment is accepted by credit card (Visa or MasterCard). An early-bird discount is offered to teams that initiate the submission process and pay the fee in advance. Regardless of when you pay, your team will have until the submission deadline to finalize your entry and formally submit it.
We will be extending our early-bird rate deadline for the submission fee by one month to April 30, 2020.

Early-bird rate: Student-only teams $40; professionals or mixed teams of students and professionals $100

Standard rate: Student-only teams $50; professionals or mixed teams of students and professionals $120

Please contact us at challenge@biomimicry.org for financial aid opportunities if these rates are unachievable for you or your team.

Submission Requirements

Submissions will be required to contain all of the following: All materials submitted must be in English. Visit the Rules and FAQs page for details about the submission process and eligibility requirements.

In order to enter the Challenge, your team must provide the following:

1. Team Information: Names and email addresses for all team members, location, and school and advisor/mentor name, if relevant, one-paragraph team bio.

2. Project title (70 character limit)

3. Design concept overview questions (300 word maximum for each question):

What is the problem you are trying to solve and how is it related to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals?

What organisms/natural systems did you learn from and how did what you learned inform your design?

What does your design do? How does it address the problem or opportunity you selected?

4. Design concept image (JPG format): A photograph, rendering, or illustration representing your design concept . This will be the primary image used to identify your project on our website or in related media.

5. Team photo (JPG format): The team photo will be used in our gallery of submissions and/or in related media. The photo should depict all team members.

6. Video pitch (3 minutes maximum): The video should provide an overview of your design, highlight your design process, convey key discoveries or insights, and ultimately convince the judges that your idea has merit. The video must be uploaded to Vimeo.com and publicly available for view. For advice on creating your video, download this guide: "Tips for Your Video Pitch"

7. Project presentation document (PDF format, 15 pages or less, no larger than A4 size): A presentation in the form of PowerPoint or Keynote slides (or similar text and image layout). This document will not be made public. See below for details on the content that this presentation must include.

An overview of your scoping process

A description or depiction of your biological inspiration process

A discussion or depiction of how nature's unifying patterns or life's principles were considered and applied to the design, including evidence of how this solution represents significant environmental or social wins.

A discussion of the current limitations of your design and a description of next steps, obstacles to be overcome for the design to be implemented, and unknown factors to be considered (e.g. materials needed, engineering tests required, etc.)

An indication of your team dynamics and the team's ability to succeed.

A list of all references and sources, including experts consulted.

Image(s) or renderings of a prototype of your innovation. Your prototype is not required to be functional at this stage. Your prototype should be testing for both desirability (do people actually want what you are creating?) and feasibility (is it technically possible to build your solution?).*

A discussion on the interviews you and your team conducted with the stakeholders and potential users of your innovation. Please interview at least ten stakeholders.

*People sometimes confuse prototypes with Minimum Viable Products (MVPs). The main difference is that your MVP is a "live" product that is providing value to someone. Prototypes are more like tests that will help you validate various assumptions.

Presentation document to be one file in a PDF format, 15 pages or less, no larger than A4 size.

Incomplete submissions will not be considered. We strongly recommend that you review the judging criteria carefully before submitting your entry.

Will late entries be considered?

The submission platform will not accept late entries. We recommend submitting your materials at least a day in advance of the deadline in order to avoid last minute issues with bandwidth or other technical glitches.

Can a team submit more than one entry?

No, teams may submit only one entry per team.

Syllabus

Introduction to the Biomimicry Global Design Challenge
Week 1: Why biomimicry? What is biomimicry? What is design? Additional Resources
Welcome to the Biomimicry Global Design Challenge (BGDC). This syllabus was created to help guide you and your team and/or students through the biomimicry process. It is broken down into 8 weeks with suggested readings, videos, activities, and milestones.
Week 2: Systems, Earth's Operating System, Nature's Unifying Patterns, Intro to the Design Spiral Activities Week 3: Design Process, Creating a Design Question, Defining the Challenge Additional Resources
Activities
Week 4: Discover & Abstract
Activities
Additional Resources
In order to find the BEST strategies or models, you need to have a lot of models to look at. Depending on the complexity of your biologized question, and the amount of scientific literature related to that question, you might identify anywhere from 20 to 100 strategies to look at more closely. Try to identify at least 40 biological strategies, if possible.
Week 5: Emulate Additional Resources
At this stage, you may want to refer back to the biology/biologists as needed to deepen your understanding of how a strategy works

Activities
Weeks 6-7: Evaluate
Activities
Activities
Share your prototype(s) with at least 10 users and stakeholders to solicit feedback from the groups you are designing for. Make changes accordingly and revisit prior steps in the design spiral when needed.
Week 8: Compile your BGDC Materials
Now you're going to evaluate your design. Make changes to your design and work your way back through the design spiral.

You should have been working on your BGDC materials throughout the entirety of the biomimicry process. Now is the time to compile your information and materials. See the submission requirementsfor more information.

Judging Criteria

All entries will be evaluated according to the following seven criteria.

Detailed Criteria

Biomimicry Process

How well do you define your specific challenge/problem?

How well do you understand the context, design criteria, and constraints of the challenge you decided to work on?

What are the benefits/impacts that your design concept has on your specific challenge/problem?

Context and Relevance

Social and Environmental Benefits

How novel is the innovation and/or biological inspiration?

If something like your design concept has already been proposed, does your solution offer significant comparative advantages or greater depth to the emulation?

Creativity

Communication and Presentation

Team

Judges

You can find more information about the 2018-2019 Judges here.

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Earth has always been a changing planet, but the rapid climate and ecological changes humans have set in motion in the last century are like nothing any species has experienced before. Hungry for energy, food, and other resources, our growing populations are pushing Earth's systems toward a frightening and well-documented tipping point.

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What problem will your innovation solve? It is a human problem in our community? Or a global problem?

Will your prototype be an item/invention, or a new system?

What part of nature inspires you? Is it an animal's wild adaptation, or how certain parts of an ecosystem work together?

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Download & print these amazing posters from the Biomimicry Institute! 

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Download & print these amazing posters from the Biomimicry Institute! 

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Put them up in your home as inspiration :)

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I made my earthquake proof desk
by using foam as the roots. I wus inspired by a tree. I also used cardboard for a  sturdy structure.
Here's my blue print.

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hers my picture of the earthquake proof desk

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I was inspired by the camel who store nutrients and fat in its hump to survive in the dessert so I made a device for climate change which I used basically a giant cooler(cardboard box) and then a lever(popsicle stick) and snow (cotton) and then wherever it feels a little bit to warm in the Arctic it sprays snow there. (My prototype is smaller than the real thing) of course it doesn’t completely solve climate change but it’s a step!

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for my Project I made a digger thing    I mimicked the aardvark and used 2 plastic lids as the base and took 7 coffee stirrers and tape them together and then taped it to the lids heres a picture down below

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I made a house that is tall and it’s beams are twisted together. It’s base connects with the surrounding homes/structures. It has a solar panel that turns to face the sun. That was inspired by flowers
( I know their already invented) and a windmill. The curving structure and connecting bases was inspired by oak trees and that helped solve the problem of natural disasters. The solar panels and windmill make all of the houses electricity.

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I created a water filter. I got inspired by whales, they have bristles instead of teath in their mouth to seperate water from food. I used straws as their bristles to get rid of big things in the water and a coffee filter for small stuff.(all the cardboard is recycled amazon boxes)

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My invention is called the “Plant Protector”. It is used to protect new plants and small crops from hail and rainstorms. My invention uses biomimicry by copying birds like the swan and the eagle that use their large wings to cover and protect their young chicks. This invention can hopefully encourage people to plant more of their own small crops and have something to protect them with. This will hopefully reduce waste in the world and help the environment too.

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My project helps with buildings that would be affected by rising water levels because of global warming and hurricanes. The roots hold and connect the buildings in a town or city to stabilize them. I got inspired by Mangrove trees. I saw some and they looked strong and stable so I did some research.

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Mangroves trees

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My invention solves the human problem and global problem of wild fires.

My product invention is an enhancement on an existing product. Its called the Smokey2 and it works like this: The drone flies over the target (where the fire started) and the hummingbird inspired wings keep it in place as the water bombs drop water onto the fire, and then the drone flips over so that the whale-inspired spout sprays the water and spreads it all over the fire area.

I was inspired by a humming bird and how it hovers and the spout of a whale. The name was inspired by Smokey the Bear (forest fire prevention mascot).

I created it using a drone,  2 water bottles(as water bombs), the top of a sparkling water bottle, 4 pipe cleaners, and duck tape.

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Smokey2

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I made a mask which was inspired by a turtle shell. I got the idea from COVID-19 and a turtle shell. it is made for infants.

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My invention helps get egg shell out of egg. It is inspired by the Grosbeak bird and my invention works by you pulling the string and the bird beak closes and you catch shell!

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my buleprint

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My invention is inspired by the

thorny devil.  The thorny devil collects dew with funnels  through out his body then drinks the dew through the funnels going to its mouth. My invention waters plants by using: a pump, a milk jug, and small hose. You plug the pump in to a  timer set to turn on one min every week . That is how it works you can see the invention in the pic below.

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I made an insulated blanket out of some old felt and a needle and thread.My idea was to stay warm,and possibly save money by buying one big blanket instead of more to keep warm.(I didn’t have enough felt to make a full sized blanket so I decided to create a smaller model instead). I folded up some extra fabric to stuff it with
, I got the idea from blubber.

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my project was inspired by a weaverbird's nest. it is a swing prototype.

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This is a earthquake emergency shelter if a earthquake is happening. I got the idea from a armadillo shell. The inside is soft but the outside is hard cardboard.