Author Archives: maliasa

Endangered Frogs and Lily Pads – Biomimicry for Young Children

What would you think if there were no frogs to kiss? In stories, frogs are often portrayed as ugly and slimy. When frogs are not hopping off lily pads, or croaking”ribbit” in the pond, they are often said to turn into a beautiful prince or princess if you dare to kiss them. And it isContinue reading “Endangered Frogs and Lily Pads – Biomimicry for Young Children”

9 Nature Books Perfect for Biomimicry

I hope I have inspired you all to include Biomimicry into your life, whether it is in the classroom or at home. Below is a list of great book to use when observing plants and animals and to spark an interest in asking big questions. The focus when using biomimicry is on observing animals andContinue reading “9 Nature Books Perfect for Biomimicry”

Biomimicry Challenge – Day 4

Do you love animals that look at bit creepy? This challenge is for you! The aye-aye is a gremlin-looking creature found in Madagascar. But the lemur is a harmless creature unless you are a larvae. Aye-ayes are primates and related to chimpanzees, apes, and humans. They have several unusual traits, big eyes, big ears andContinue reading “Biomimicry Challenge – Day 4”

Biomimicry Challenge – Day 3

A curious mind asks lots of questions and then search for answers. Question asking is at the very core of thinking and innovation. A special kind of questions that can be acted upon and lead to change in the way we look at things. Question asking is a skill that is different from typing ratherContinue reading “Biomimicry Challenge – Day 3”

Autumn Leaves – Colour and Shape

Being a nature detective during the autumn can be a lot of fun. Mushroom just waiting to be admired and sometimes even picked. If you walk quietly you may spot squirrels and birds. Acorns, conkers and pine cones can be collected and turned into wonderful art and craft. Piles of leaves just waiting for youContinue reading “Autumn Leaves – Colour and Shape”

Eternal Magic Leaf Sheep Snack Bar and Photosynthesis – Biomimicry

A couple of weeks ago, I found the cutest little leaf sheep. A sea slug that looks adorable and who has the most amazing ability – an animal that can rely on sunshine for its nutrition. It sounds like a test from school and you would definitely fail if you ticked that genes from anContinue reading “Eternal Magic Leaf Sheep Snack Bar and Photosynthesis – Biomimicry”

Inspirational Video – Biomimicry for Young Children

I see trees of green, red roses too I see them bloom for me and you And I think to myself what a wonderful world I see skies of blue and clouds of white… Louis Armstrong In this video we follow David Attenborough around the world. I hope you feel inspired and awestruck by theContinue reading “Inspirational Video – Biomimicry for Young Children”

The Twelve Months of Endangered Animals Songs- Cool & Hot Zebra Socks

On the eighth day of August we saved eight elegant zebras.   Black and white stripes. The skin helps to keep the zebra cool. So the answer to a lot of problems may be “zebra”! The pattern of the black and white stripes may be correlated to the climate where the zebras are living. TheContinue reading “The Twelve Months of Endangered Animals Songs- Cool & Hot Zebra Socks”

Biomimicry for Young Children Challenge – Day 1

Welcome to the Biomimicry challenge. Seven days filled with inspiration to observe animals and plants and to use these as a platform upon which ideas, buildings and inventions can be developed. An innovative approach to a subject requires courage to break patterns and to question ideas. The earlier children are taught this the more successfulContinue reading “Biomimicry for Young Children Challenge – Day 1”

Sunday Walk – Autumn Biomimicry Food Challenge

The forest is coming to a standstill and animals are preparing for the colder weather. One year the theme for the Biomimicry Institute’s Global Design Challenge was How to improve food systems by looking to nature for design solutions.We decided to embrace this challenge on our Sunday walk. Autumn is a busy time for manyContinue reading “Sunday Walk – Autumn Biomimicry Food Challenge”

Learning Requires New Skills – Critical Thinking, Lat Jumping and Biomimicry

What do you think of the idea that students should be allowed to use the Internet in exams? We may be at a turning point for exams. At least high school examinations but I am sure that the changes will eventually spread to primary school. The idea that an examination should gauge whether a childContinue reading “Learning Requires New Skills – Critical Thinking, Lat Jumping and Biomimicry”

Inspired by Endangered Sloths – Sloth Meditation

Imagine that you can be the sloth. What does it mean to find your inner sloth? Sloths are asleep a good portion of the twenty-four-hour day. The rest of the time the are slowly moving and feeding. What if you were licking an ice-cream in a way that a sloth munches slowly on leaves? WhatContinue reading “Inspired by Endangered Sloths – Sloth Meditation”

Biomimicry for Young Children Inspired by the Endangered Sloths

Bring slowness into the world! On the Second Day of February, We Saved Two Sleepy Sloths Would it not be great to stretch time? How can we celebrate slowfulness? William Beebe was a sloth researcher who was very impressed by the sloths’ slowness. He wrote, “Sloths have no right to be living on this earth,Continue reading “Biomimicry for Young Children Inspired by the Endangered Sloths”

Biomimicry for Young Children – Inspired by Endangered Dugongs – Donald Dugong Seacleaner

Meet Donald Dugong Seacleaner! The graceful dugongs spend time eating seagrass from the bottom of the sea. Seagrass is important to save. We wrote a story about Doctor Delia Dugong who saved the seagrass. We also reversed the thinking and ended up with an idea where we take something away from the sea that doesContinue reading “Biomimicry for Young Children – Inspired by Endangered Dugongs – Donald Dugong Seacleaner”

Biomimicry for Young Children – Inspired by Endangered Dugongs

Dugongs spark our curiosity and tug our heart-strings. These sea cows are beautiful and fascinating creatures. The first day of January we saved One swimming dugong Inspired by the carol “The Twelve days fo Christmas”, we made up a song where we each month saved an animal – The Twelve Months of Endangered Animals Song.Continue reading “Biomimicry for Young Children – Inspired by Endangered Dugongs”

Imagine a city! A Smart City!

People flying with their umbrellas as the wind blows. Paintings that escape from their frames. Buses are fish and fish fly in the sky! Imagine a City by Elise Hurst is an invitation to imagine all sort of fantastic things. She encourages us to not only imainge fantastical cities but also takes the game aContinue reading “Imagine a city! A Smart City!”

Biomimicry for Young Children – Magic DinoPills

What if you were a dentist? Can you invent something inspired by dinosaurs? Magnificent plant-eating dinosaurs provided inspiration for the idea of Magic DinoPills. The long-necked, plant-eating giants such as Diplodocus and Camarasaurus grew new teeth every couple of months. Their diet consisting of plants such a trees, bushes, cycads, ginkgoes and ferns worn downContinue reading “Biomimicry for Young Children – Magic DinoPills”

Jelly Bean Frog Story Writing and Robos- Biomimicry for Young Children

Tiny, tiny, tiny frogs! Some frogs are the size of a jellybean. Jelly bean frogs – wonderful inspiration! Of course we could not resist cutting out the tiniest frogs and to put them beside jelly beans. Brachycephalus frogs are less than a 1 cm long (0.39 inches) or approximately the size of a jelly bean.Continue reading “Jelly Bean Frog Story Writing and Robos- Biomimicry for Young Children”

Fibonacci, Cones and Biomimicry

Pine cones can be a great source of inspiration for craft and art projects. Use goggle eyes to transform a cone into a pet, a monster, or an owl. Wrap the cone in tinsel and glitter and you have a sparkly Xmas decoration. The seeds can be glued onto a paper and a hedgehog orContinue reading “Fibonacci, Cones and Biomimicry”

Spooky Spiderlicious Spycamera – Halloween Inspired Biomimicry for Young Children

Be inspired by Spiders to prevent a thief from stealing Halloween treats. Spiders! Oh no! Although I have never been afraid of spiders I must admit that finding a poisonous redback in my shoes in Queensland did make me jump back. The redback spider is a beautiful black spider with a big red strip onContinue reading “Spooky Spiderlicious Spycamera – Halloween Inspired Biomimicry for Young Children”

Why is Biomimicry Important?

It might be difficult to understand why biomimicry is important and what children can learn from this approach to look at nature to find inspiration for new ideas. Most school teach children about how animals and plants grow, where they can be found, and taxonomy but nature can be used as an inspiration to solveContinue reading “Why is Biomimicry Important?”

Digging Deeper – Biomimicry and Philiosophy

It is deceptively easy to think that biomimicry is simply an approach where the only purpose is to invent and design new things. An approach to creating things or solve problems by using principles that have been tested by nature for billions of years. Admittedly , this is one of the reasons why I thinkContinue reading “Digging Deeper – Biomimicry and Philiosophy”

CroakMet Messaging Service – Biomimicry for Young Children

In the summertime, bike riding is, even more, fun! Yet there are several problems with bike riding. Frogs amazing bulging eyes and their low horse croaking sound provided inspiration to solve two of the most annoying problems. How to talk to your best friend without shouting? How to see everything that goes on behind you?Continue reading “CroakMet Messaging Service – Biomimicry for Young Children”

Biomimicry, British Wildlife and Foxes – Fox Nose box

Foxes are fantastic. They can leap up into the air and dive into a pile a snow to catch a mouse. Inspired by foxes we made a Fox Nose Box – the food packing of the future. Just like foxes have great noses so does this food box. The black nose if filled with trillionsContinue reading “Biomimicry, British Wildlife and Foxes – Fox Nose box”

Biomimicry Postal Stamps to Celebrate Nature

Postal stamps to celebrate nature! Stamps are awesome. And if you are wondering how big is the gap between teeth on the jagged edge you find the answer in the mind-boggling book Science of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials. “An atom is only about one hundred-millionth of a centimetre across, so that it would takeContinue reading “Biomimicry Postal Stamps to Celebrate Nature”

Smart Feathers – Biomimicry for Young Children

  Owls have beautiful as well as smart feathers! Why not make a project and study feathers? The beauty of bird feathers provides inspiration for art activities. And their smart design is perfect for young curious biomimicrist. A great way to study how feathers have evolved and to use their clever design as an inspirationContinue reading “Smart Feathers – Biomimicry for Young Children”