In Bioengineering: Discover How Nature Inspires Human Designs, young
readers explore designs and innovations that come from nature. Leonardo
da Vinci studied birds' wings to draw his design of a man-made flying
machine and engineers still look to birds when attempting to make planes
more aerodynamic. And a burr on your shirt from walking through a field
sticks like Velcro, doesn't it? The plant and animal world provides
engineers and scientists with a host of ideas to apply to the human
world to make it a better place to live.
Bioengineering explores different fields, including communication,
transportation, and construction, and follows the process of engineering
from the raw material of the natural world to the products we use in the
human world every day. Activities such as building cantilevers and
inventing a new fabric that mimics pinecone behavior require kids to
think critically about their own needs and find creative ideas to
fulfill those needs using designs from nature. Essential questions and
links to digital and primary resources make this book an engaging and
illuminating experience.