(RED- explaining, not included in the PowerPoint) (BLACK- Included in the PowerPoint) (BLUE- Notes)

Before we report, what are your inspirations that made you what you are today? (Ask 3 classmates)

What is biomimicry?

Biomimicry is the design process that looks to nature for inspiration in creating solutions to improve the
quality of life. The term was coined by biologist Janine Benyus from the Greek words bias meaning "life,"
and mimesis, meaning "to imitate." Other terms used for biomimicry are bionics and bio-inspiration.
Biomimicry is not a new science. Many investors have practiced it for many years. They have taken
notice of the efficiency of nature's designs. Biomimicry is basically based on understanding how
organisms adapt, live, and the process of doing something to apply it to our lives and to benefit us.
Applying it, humans can achieve the abilities of the nature. Which is a great benefit to correct the wrong
practices.

Humans have always wanted to fly. Early inventors like Leonardo da Vinci famously known the one who
created the Mona Lisa, looked to birds to study why and how they fly, which then inspired their designs
of flying machines. Most of his inventions was based on biomimicry, which became his model, guide,
and reference standard for his inventions. We may not be able to imitate it in a physical way effectively,
but by using our minds we can apply it mechanically like planes. Ideas are not limited and there is a lot
of things we haven’t discovered yet. Nature is using some systems that can benefit them and we
observe what they are doing because we are curious just like Leonardo.

Nature offers sustainable solutions. Just go for a walk outside and observe the efficiency of natural
design. The concept of sustainability is best understood when you realize that nature is about balance.
Animals only take what they need, therefore, not depleting their supply. Plants are fertilized by compost
created by the action of earthworms, and thus their shade protects codependent organisms. Learning
from nature can help ensure that the environment can sustain human race for a very long time. By just
imitating them, we can live the same as them. Right now, most of us are solving problems in not a
sustainable way like making energy out of coal which makes CO2 making a greenhouse effect, making
products that cannot be recycled but compare it to nature, it is all balanced. Remember, ideas are not
limited and so it is the opportunity to replace the wrong practices.

Biomimicry in action

Boxfish-Inspired Car

The engineers at the Mercedes-Benz Technology Centre and the DaimlerChrysler Research department
looked for a specific example in nature that could provide a design for aerodynamic streamlined
efficiency. The tropical boxfish came out as their model. The prototype boxfish car was tested in a wind
tunnel. The engineers wanted to determine. how well it can resist the force of the air in the tunnel and
glide with ease. They measured the coefficient of drag (CD), a unitless value. The lower the C, the better
the aerodynamic performance. The boxfish car achieved a wind drag coefficient of 0.19, while other
brand models had higher Cp values. This low Cp reduces fuel consumption by 20 percent compared with
other cars. Now, we are experiencing a lot of problems regarding to gasoline. The price of gasoline is
getting higher in the Philippines. By using this idea, we can save money and the environment around us.

Spider Web-Inspired Fishing Nets

Although elastic and lightweight, the web is strong enough to carry a load five times the weight of the
spider. The fishing net, the screens in your windows, the net design in fabrics may have been inspired by
the spider's web-a feat in material strength and efficient design. Not using a durable kind of rope, but
using a structure that is durable than what kind of rope it was.

Photosynthesis-Inspired Solar Chargers

Taking inspiration from how plants harness energy from the sun to create their food, humans too have
found a way to tap solar energy and convert it into electrical energy. Solar chargers store solar energy by
mimicking photosynthesis. In the chloroplast of plant cells is chlorophyll, the green pigment that absorbs
solar energy and, with water and carbon dioxide, produces sugar and energy in the form of adenosine
triphosphate (ATP). In the solar cells of the charger, photons from sunlight knocks off electrons from
silicon. The free electrons then create an electric current that can power up cell phones and other
gadgets.

Whale Fins-Inspired Wind Turbine Blades

Scientists have looked to the humpback whales to improve the efficiency of wind turbine blades,
especially when the wind is not strong. The flippers of the whale have a series of bumps called tubercles,
which help the whale maneuver by influencing the drag and lift of the whale. Scientists used this design
to create wind turbine blades with tubercles, increasing their performance by 40 percent. Thus, even if
the wind is not as strong, the wind turbine still maximizes its performance.

Is biomimicry limited? And why it is not. (Ask 3 classmates)

Values from Nature

Biomimicry is not limited to creating products. It can also help you observe how nature, and the
organisms establish relationships, share leadership, and communicate efficiently. As social animals,
humans engage in teambuilding and communication during day-to-day encounters. You rely on
teamwork to efficiently complete tasks. Although organized teams work as one, they are also made up
of individuals with unique characteristics.

Nature's teams can communicate without technologies such as mobile phones, internet, and social
networks. They efficiently sound off early-warning alarms for upcoming disasters. They can signal other
organisms to run for safety.

Examples that we may learn from the nature.

Cooperation and Trust. Nature's communities operate in a system of "cooperation and trust" rather than
"command and control." Ants can organize and look for food for the entire colony without a commander
or a supervisor telling them to do so. Each ant is self-motivated to work for the good of the colony. In
contrast to us humans, some depend on commands from someone to do what is right and even some
doesn’t do a thing because of lack of motivation. To cooperate is to trust and to trust is to cooperate.

Shared Leadership.

During the flight of migratory birds, leadership does not belong absolutely to one individual. Each bird
can lead the flock. The lead bird is at the tip of the V-shaped formation, working the hardest as the flock
cuts through the air. Once the lead bird tires, it moves back, and another bird moves forward to take its
place. Human teams should realize that everyone can be a leader.

Everybody gets tired too, and to change roles is to not get burned out. Sharing leadership can make your
team like a pride of lions.

Maximum Team Size.

Nature knows what size of a community is adequate for effective interaction. When a group becomes
too large, it is divided into smaller groups that branch out in geometric shapes. It may look good when
the more people the better. But the more members you have in your group the more communications
you must deal with. Think of it like food for your team, it is not enough to feed a whole team, and so
that’s where limiting the size goes in.

Effective Communication: Shout and Whisper. Effective communication in nature is classified as a shout
when, through one act, all members are informed. Another is the whisper, where a message is
transmitted on a one-on-one basis, as in an ant touching another. Shout (one to all) is exemplified when
a bee's waggle dance informs all bees in the colony the location of the food. Animals secrete chemicals
called pheromones to communicate a warning or mating desires. Whether your information you have to
say should be heard by everybody or a particular person only.

Reviewing Resource Cycles of Earth

The study of biomimicry also looks at how nature sustains itself. In this section, we will examine closed
loop geocycles to motivate us to change some of our practices. Closed Loops Nature uses and produces
materials in a sustainable manner. The water cycle, for instance, happens all the time. A water drop
from the sea evaporates into water vapor that rises into the clouds where it condenses and then
precipitates down as rain, which in turn runs off to the sea. Basically, nature is full of closed loops where
you can go back to the beginning. Some plastics are hard to recycle which can take thousands of years to
decompose and this lesson is focusing on motivating us from changing our practices. On the book,
teachers in Cagayan de Oro gave some ideas or inventions for this topic. What they did was to make a
theme park for kids that can be sustainable by using the closed loop systems.

Looking at How Organisms Adapt to Their Environment Look at how organisms survive or adapt to
their environment.

How would you cool an area where temperature swings from high to low? Where do you look for
inspiration? The desert features organisms that can stay cool in a hot climate. A cactus-inspired building
in Doha, Qatar in the Middle East, Its swollen shape is large in the midsection and constricted at the top,
offering good shade on the ground level when the sun is directly above. Spikes at the sides of the
building mimic the needles of the cactus plant and offer additional shade below. Smart shades open and
close depending on the intensity of the sun. We became curious at how a living thing survive in a hot
climate. It may look impossible, but the design made it cooler. Applying it, we can reduce the use of
electricity, Air conditioners etc.

Biomimicry Design challenge

In 2010-2011, the global architectural design challenge titled Design Against the Elements (DAE) was
launched to provide green solutions to the climate change-related problems. The group used a coral
ecosystem as a model for cities and harmonious dwellings. It applied the principles of green passive
designs to maximize the energy benefits of the building while maintaining cost effectiveness. Green
active designs refer to sustainable buildings that have advanced. features such as LED lights, air
conditioners. with low energy consumption, and films on windows that filter sunlight. All these are cost-
saving devices. In green passive design, buildings are designed in a way that maximizes the use of
natural and renewable sources of energy such as the sun and wind to provide ventilation, cooling,
heating, and lighting. Passive design reduces the use of air conditioners, mechanical heaters and the like.

Without using things that consume energy, it is still effective, efficient and also sustainable.

Principles Behind the Winning Design

Corals as Inspiration.

The corals inspire the design for a sustainable community. They are colonies of organized identical units
called polyps that grow in marine ecosystems such as those found in Philippine seas. Geometric Design
and Disaster-Resilient Features. ItalPinas, Incorporated, a Euro-Asian design and eco development
corporation with an office in Manila, designed a condominium complex using voronoi tessellation as a
strategy. It was inspired by the architectural geometry of corals. This is how biomimetic solutions are
designed. The process on how they made a unique idea that can be a benefit for us.

Voronoi tessellation is a model for separating spaces, which describes the spatial arrangement of cells.
The design includes individual ring-shaped buildings with modular living units and optimal structural.
performance to withstand earthquakes and typhoons. Emergency escape paths and protected areas are
included in case of floods or natural disasters. Wind circulation through the buildings provides natural
ventilation and minimizes the stress from strong typhoon winds. Rainwater is collected and drained out
through an interconnected system of canals, minimizing the effects of floods and optimizing water
resource management. By designing its structure, it made a big impact on sustaining and effectiveness.

Can we make an efficient design in a low budgett? And where can we inspire that from? (Ask 3
classmates)

(Say this after classmates finished answering the questions) From all the lessons we tackled, we now
conclude that you can get ideas from nature and these ideas does not have any limitations, but you can
make more unique ideas that can be a benefit for the environment to correct the wrong practices of
humans.