During the Fall semester I will run a 6-week enrichment course at the Urbana Middle School on the topic of Bioinspiration. I get 45 minutes per week to make students think about nature as a great resource for creative thinking and technological innovation. I will work with nine 6th graders who are all interested in Science. To find out more about me, the mother of a UMS 6th-grader, click here.
On this web-page, I will post links and resources and reflect on what the kids and myself are learning. (Students will remain anonymous)
Before the first official meeting I hope the students (and their friends and family) will watch the following videos:
- Dayna Baumeister of Biomimicry3.8 at the Bioneers conference (2011) http://blip.tv/virginialee/dayna-baumeister-at-the-2011-bioneers-5941839 (30 minutes)
- Bob Full from UC Berkeley. TEDtalk (2009). http://www.ted.com/talks/robert_full_on_engineering_and_evolution.html (20 minutes)
Also, I encourage you to peruse this very blog (there are lots of resources included in this particular post) and to visit the asknature.org website and just “look around” by using the search bar at the top.
First lecture:
- PLEWarmUpActivityForWeek1
- PLEBioinspirationLect1 (powerpoint presentation)
- Parent Led Enrichment Fieldtrip Handout
insectsdiditfirst.com 