Nature can inspire design — Design, 4–6 years
Designers can notice how living things solve problems and borrow an idea without copying everything.
Look closely at nature
Plants and animals have features that help them live: a leaf lets rain run off, and a bird's feathers help keep it warm. A designer can notice one useful feature and make a human object with a similar idea. The new object does not have to look like the living thing.
Why watch nature?
People often need to solve problems such as keeping dry, holding on or moving through air. Living things have already had to deal with these problems for a very long time. Watching them can give designers a starting idea instead of making a guess from nothing.
A rain shelter like a leaf
First, watch rain on a leaf: water travels to the lower edge and drops away. Next, make a small shelter with a sloping roof instead of a flat one. Pour a cup of water on it. The water runs down the slope, so the space underneath stays drier.
Copy the whole animal
When a design is inspired by nature, it is tempting to copy the whole shape, because that is the part we can see first. But the useful idea may be only one small feature, such as a leaf's slope or a burr's tiny hooks. Keep the useful job, not every detail.
Where do we see it?
Some fastening strips were inspired by burrs that catch on animal fur. The tiny hooks on one side catch the loops on the other side. This is biomimicry: using an idea noticed in nature to make a useful object, without pretending the object is alive.
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