Biomimicry
Lesson Objectives:
At the end of the workshop, students will be able to:
Define biomimicry
Understand how humans can take inspiration from animals to solve common problems, and environmental issues
Learn about hermit crabs and how we can take inspiration from them
Essential Questions:
What is biomimicry?
Why would we look to nature for inspiration to fix issues?
How can we solve a problem using a trait of a plant or animal?
How can we take inspiration from hermit crabs in solving issues?
Explore our resources
Click on the images to access each resource (available as a PDF or webpage)
Take-Home Guide
Information for parents & legal guardians (available in English and Spanish).
Información para padres de familia y tutores legales (disponible en Inglés y Español).
Standards Alignments
Explore the ways our program aligns with CCSS + NGSS standards.
Vocabulary
Quiz your students on vocabulary used during our lesson!
Video Resources
Explore relevant videos about light pollution and nocturnal animals here!
Infographic
Learn how light pollution impacts animals.
Social Emotional Learning
Watch Borrowed Light and reflect with your students.
Reading Resources
Explore our staff picks for your students!
Activity: Keep the Lights Off at Home!
Color a starry scene on a poster to help remember to turn the lights off at home.
FPC Reading List Pick
Read these FPC picks + complete reflection activities with your students!
Challenge: Teacher Guide
Download this page to help your students complete their challenge.
Challenge: Student Coloring book
Print this story book for you students to color and take home!
Lesson Reflection
Print and send home this reflection activity to show families what their student learned.
Background Information
What is Light Pollution?
Noise is an invisible form of pollution that can cause some major problems. Defined by the EPA as "unwanted or disturbing sounds," noise pollution contributes to negative health outcomes such as high blood pressure, stress-related illness, sleep disturbance, and hearing loss. Examples of noise pollution include construction work, air and road traffic noise, and even noisy pets.
Why Do We Care?
Noise pollution can cause problems for animals and their habitats as well. Human-generated noise has been shown to cause caterpillars' "hearts" (called dorsal vessels in insects) to beat faster and lead bluejays to have fewer chicks. In the oceans, animals like whales and dolphins are severely impacted when noises from ships impair their ability to communicate.