Science Fair (or My Daughter Likes to Hang Out with the Scientists Down at the Smithsonian)

Each of our children took a science class through the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center's education program.  Marijka studied Ecosystems, Aidan took a class on Rocks and Minerals, and Linnea chose a Biomimicry class that included a science fair.

The science fair took place during our last week in Maryland.  So when we should have been packing up, we were instead buying a trifold poster and building things with popsicle sticks!!

In studying biomimicry, Linnea first learned several ways that humans have copied abilities or designs from animals or plants.  For example, the invention of velcro was based on plant burrs that stick to pant legs and dog fur, and a passive cooling system was modeled after how termite mounds control temperature, and a gecko's ability to climb up walls is inspiring a gecko tape (see here for a video or here for more info, or just google 'biomimicry'.  It's pretty fascinating stuff!)

The students were then asked to choose an experiment that they could do that demonstrated an aspect of an animals' life that could be copied (mimicked!) by us in our society today.  Linnea chose to investigate how the angles found within a spider web could be used to create strong buildings and bridges. 

She created bridges with three designs.  The top two sides demonstrate the angles of a spider web.

She set up each bridge over a gap, 

hung a bucket from the bridge....

and filled the bucket with weights, keeping track of which bridge could hold the most weight.

The bridge with vertical supports only held 11 pounds before it broke (which was still way more than we thought it would hold).  The other two held close to 20 pounds!  It was a fun project.  Linnea often demonstrates engineering-type thoughts (Daddy's genes!)..... and she sure took to the idea of biomimicry.  Neat, eh? 

The class brought their projects to the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center's main lobby and invited all the Smithsonian Researchers to come and see what they had done.  It was a pretty cool final celebration with lots of fun conversations between the scientists and the children. 

Linnea even found a good looking Smithsonian scientist to pose with her!