Contemporary VCE BiologyModule 3:
How Can Organisms’ Adaptations Help Humans Solve Challenges?
In this lesson, students will be conveying scientific knowledge, ideas and understandings to an audience. Students will need to use “clear, coherent and concise expression” (VCAA 2017, p.11) throughout their presentation, and will need to convey their information using language which is appropriate to their audience. In this lesson students will also explore biomimicry, and they will be required complete a worksheet on specific examples of biomimicry.
Summary
VCE Biology (2016-2020)
Unit 1, Area of Study 2, Outcome 2, VCE Biology Study Design
Key knowledge
Survival through adaptations and regulation
- The structural, physiological and behavioural adaptations that enhance an organism’s survival and enable life to exist in a wide range of environments
- Successful adaptations as models for biomimicry to solve human challenges
Key science skills
Communicate and explain scientific ideas
- Use appropriate biological terminology and representations
- Discuss relevant biological information, ideas, concepts, theories and models and the connections between them
- Use clear, coherent and concise expression
Duration
1 hour
Student learning outcomes
At the completion of this lesson, students should be able to:
- Investigate and research into a species of their own choosing and communicate this information to an audience
- Compare different species living in a range of habitats and why they possess adaptations that are suited to their specific environment
- Identify some adaptations in species that have been used by humans to solve problems and challenges
Teacher background information
In the first half of the lesson, students will present and convey their ‘Species Profile Cards’ to the rest of the class. Other students should be encouraged to ask the group questions after their presentation. Throughout the presentation, students will be enhancing their ‘communicate and explain scientific ideas’ skill from the VCE Biology Study Design. The second activity of this sequence is a worksheet on biomimicry and how it is used to solve human challenges. Students will benefit from knowing some examples of biomimicry for their assessments and the end of year examination.
Teacher Understanding
Biomimicry: is the practice of learning and being inspired by nature’s best ideas to achieve technological advances, expressed in new designs, products and processes.
(Kinnear & Martin 2015, p. 230)
Teaching sequence
Overview
Activity 3.1 - Presentation: The students will present their ‘Species Profile Cards’ they created the previous lesson to the rest of the class.
Activity 3.2 - Solving Human Challenges: Students will each complete a worksheet on biomimicry and how it helps to solve human challenges. The responses will be discussed as a class.
Activities
Activity 3.1 - Presentation (30 minutes)
Each group will be given approximately 2-3 minutes to describe why their species is the most appropriate for the new BBC documentary on adaptations, students will also describe the adaptations of the species, its environment, and why the organism has particular features and adaptations. Each member of the group is required to contribute, and each member of the group will be required to answer at least one question from the audience.
Examples of questions
- What is the greatest challenge that your species faces?
- Is your species diurnal or nocturnal?
- How does your species cope with being nocturnal?
- How does your species regulate body heat?
- What is an adaptation your species shares with another species?
- How does your species find a mate?
- Does your species care for their young, yes/no? In either case, why do you think that is advantageous to the species survival?
- Is there competition for a mate in your species?
- What is the metabolic rate of your species, and why is this advantageous to them in the region that they live in?
Activity 3.2 - Solving Human Challenges (30 minutes)
Teacher asks students to break down the word biomimicry and write down in their notes what they think it means. Bio- meaning living, and –mimicry meaning to imitate something. Biomimicry is to imitate something living in nature. The definition of biomimicry is the practice of learning and being inspired by nature’s best ideas to achieve technological advances, expressed in new designs, products and processes.
(Kinnear & Martin p. 230, 2017).
Teacher describes this to their students using the story of how Velcro was discovered.
Teacher Explanation:
Velcro is an example of biomimicry. In the 1940s an engineer from Switzerland was out with his dog, and his dog had walked through vegetation. Upon coming back to its owner, the dog had Burrs stuck onto its fur. Burrs are a type of seed found on many species of plants. The engineer began the tedious task of removing all of the Burrs from its dog. The Swiss engineer wondered what the Burrs would look like on a microscopic level. Upon examination under the microscope, the engineer observed that the Burrs had small hooks at their ends. This discovery lead to the invention of Velcro, which now sticks many objects to other objects, by possessing tiny hooks on one piece of Velcro, and many tiny loops on the other piece of Velcro, for the hooks to hook into (seen below).
Some of the examples of biomimicry have been based from the Biozone Student Workbook for VCE Biology Units 1 & 2.
Hints and answers have been provided for the teacher to assist students. After students have completed the worksheet, there will be a 5-10 minute discussion about the answers at the end of the lesson.
Materials:
Next module: How Do Birds Regulate Temperature?
