Lesson video

Hello, my name is Mr. Donnelly.

I'm one of the Design and Technology teachers for Oak Academy.

For this lesson, I had to do quite a lot of research.

It was about whether nature has had an impact on the design of new materials.

I had no idea how amazing some examples were in nature and how they've actually had an impact on the way that some new materials have been designed.

We're going to look at nature and design some of our own materials, even using the normal family pet.

So I've got a cat and I had no idea that I'd be able to design a material towards the end of the lesson, based on my cat called Elvis.

Maybe in the lesson, if I can find him I'll get Elvis and he can join in as well.

I hope you really enjoy the lesson.

In this lesson, we're going to see some of the amazing ways that nature has solved problems. The second thing that we're going to do is we're going to see how nature has inspired the creation of new materials.

And then the last part of the lesson that I found the most fun is designing a material of my own based upon inspiration from nature.

Like most of my lessons, there are two things that you'll need.

One of them is some plain paper and the second is something to draw or write with.

So I'd recommend a pencil.

If you need to pause the video for a minute, just to get those things, go ahead, and I'll see you back in a moment To take part in the lesson, there are some key terms and words, and it'll be helpful if you understand what they mean before we begin.

The first word is new and emerging technology.

New and emerging technology simply means the new way that people are working, the new way that people are communicating.

The fact that there is more devices connected via the internet and WiFi is all about how manufacturing takes place and how new materials are being created through new and emerging technology.

The second one is nanomaterial.

Now the word nano means, in a mathematical term, 10 to the minus nine.

Now that sounds a bit too much at the moment and we'll come onto it later on but nano means that there is a very small particle.

So if we've got things that are designed on a tiny scale it means that we can increase strength and conductivity.

There's lots of developments with nanomaterials and most of them are inspired by nature.

The next word is functionality.

This is a word used to describe the way that something works.

So if you have something that's got improved functionality, that means that it is likely to function better because it's an improved functionality.

So it's all linked to the way that something works.

A word I mentioned before was nanomaterial.

To understand what that word means, it's easier if we can break it down.

So the first word I said was nano.

You might have heard the word nano before and it's a mathematical prefix, which means it goes before, so we could get a nanosecond.

And that would mean it's 0.

000000001 seconds.

So a zero, decimal point, eight zeros, and then a one.

It's a really, really small number often used in electronics but it is tiny, microscopic.

So nano means really small.

Material, this is a word used just to describe something that you could use to make a product.

Some people get mixed up and think material is just cloth.

Like what my shirt is made of, but material could be anything, paper card, cloth, steel, timber, absolutely anything.

So nanomaterial means that we've got a material made in a molecular tiny particle structure.

And because we're focusing on designing a material on such a small scale, we can make materials that are really strong and have got really special properties.

I'm going to show you now some slides and on each slide there is going to be a statement.

I'd like you to have a think and see if you can guess whether it is true or false.

So Velcro has been inspired by a plant.

Do you think that's true or do you think it's false? Commit to a response.

It's true, there is a plant called burdock and that was used to inspire the creation of Velcro.

So here, we've got a slide that shows a Velcro shoe.

It's got a coat that's covered with burdock plant and there's a burdock plant just at the top.

So if you were to take off a burdock plant, throw it at an item or clothing, it would stick to the clothing and it's got a tiny little hook at the end of the spur and that is what enables Velcro to work.

So it's got a little hook that sticks inside the fluffy parts of Velcro, so there are two parts of material and it's been inspired by a burdock plant.

Second statement, so a lotus flower has been used to inspire the creation of waterproof sprays.

So do you think if you've got a waterproof coat it might've been inspired by a lotus flower? Commit to a response, do you think it's true or false? It's true, so a waxy coating that's on a lotus flower that's been used to inspire a spray that can go onto material to give it a waterproof feature.

And there you can see the lotus flower and underneath it there is a picture of a car.

And the reason that there's a car is because some finishes that are applied to paint are actually inspired by the waxy coating from a lotus flower.

So it's a nanomaterial spray, you put it on top of the paint and it will give it a protective finish.

It keeps it clean, easy to rinse, and you don't really need to go and apply detergent or soap to keep your car clean.

The other little symbol that's 10 to the minus nine.

That means that there are nine zeros.

So zero, decimal point, and eight zeros before the one.

And it says a lotus flower has got a superhydrophobicity nanoparticle structure.

That just means that the structure will allow it to repel water.

So the next statement, an African Namib beetle might inspire self filling water bottles.

Do you think it's true that there is a beetle that can inspire the design of a bottle that will fill itself? That's quite a bold statement or do you think it's false? Choose an option, commit to that and we'll have a look.

It's true, who would have thought that a beetle can actually inspire the design of a bottle that might fill itself with water? There's the beetle at the top, and what happens is where this beetle lives there's not much rain, but there is a fog that comes just a couple of times a week.

And as the fog comes, the beetle stands up on its legs, lifts up its wings, and as the fog passes over the beetle, it condenses on the wings, rolls down the beetle and into its mouth.

Scientists and designers have started to make fog catchers to go on various parts of the planet so that they can condense the water from the air and collect it.

So water is supposed to be the new gold in some places.

Water can be very difficult to find and this same method of collecting water from the air, inspired by the beetle, that's actually happening.

Some scientists are working on developing a bottle that can actually fill itself with water just by collecting what's in the atmosphere.

So shark skin is being used to coat planes and ships to help them go faster.

Do you think this is true or false? Commit to a response.

It's false, it's nearly true but not quite.

A shark is not having its skin removed so it can be covered with, put on top of a plane or boat.

What is happening though is NASA have invented a material called a riblet film and it's based upon the structure of a shark skin and some Olympic divers and swimmers they wear now a swimsuit full body covering and the coating is similar to that of a shark.

Some fighter planes and warships and submarines are also being coated with riblet film which is based upon the pattern on the shark skin.

So on this slide, you can see now that we've got a shark it looks like a Tornado fighter plane, and NASA have copied the pattern and they're using it to make things go faster.

This is the last one.

So butterfly wings and are being used as solar cells to collect energy from the sun.

So do you think that the wing of a butterfly is being used to collect energy from the sun? Commit to an answer, true or false.

Of course it's false, but the colour and the structure of a solar cell that has been improved by using inspiration from the wings of a butterfly.

So here you can see, there is a solar cell and a butterfly.

The butterfly is called a Rose butterfly and it collects energy from the sun itself and the structure of solar cells and the colour of them has been inspired by the same butterfly.

So by now I'm hoping, like me, you think that nanomaterials are amazing.

Who would have thought you could design at such a small molecular level.

And that's the way that things are being developed now really small scale development leading to materials and products which are just fantastic.

Some things that you'll be aware of.

I'll just read these out now, so scratch-proof glasses.

Some of those have got a coating on natural lens that can stop the glass from scratching.

Crack-resistant paints, anti-graffiti coatings for walls.

So that would have a similar coating to a waterproof spray but it's within the paint on the wall to make it very difficult to coat graffiti.

Transparent sunscreens, stain-repellent fabrics, and self-cleaning windows, they will all contain a nanomaterial.

So it's that real small scale development which is leading to the discovery of really fantastic products.

If you could pause the video now to read the task.

I'd like you to find three examples of amazing nature.

Now I said at the start of the video that I was going to go and get my cat.

I'm going to go and try and find him in a minute while you pause the video, see if I can bring him back and he'll join in to try to help.

So what you've got to do is find three examples from nature.

One of them is going to be my cat so it doesn't need to be obscure examples.

And we're going to find three things that you think are amazing.

It can be a cat, a dog, I've given examples of a polar bear or a dolphin.

And all you've got to do is find out what is amazing about the animal.

So every animal and species has got an amazing fact.

So you have to find the amazing fact about an animal.

I'll go and get my cat.

You pause the video, have a think, and I'll be back in a minute.

So, now that I'm back, I've got my cat.

You can see in here he's absolutely massive, he's Elvis.

So normally, he quite likes being held like this.

This is his first time ever being filmed on a video and Elvis doesn't even know why he's being picked but a cat is amazing.

There's something really special about a cat and I'll let you know what it is in a moment.

The next animal I chose, my cat wouldn't like this animal, but it's a dog.

And dogs are amazing as well even though Elvis probably doesn't like them.

I don't know if you can hear him purring but I think he quite likes joining in with the lesson.

So if you've got a pet, make sure you go and get it and you include it in your example now.

The next animal was a chameleon.

Now these obviously people will think naturally that they're amazing because they can change colour but don't let that put you off picking a pet that you've got at home.

So I'm going to put Elvis down because he's going to make it difficult to film with.

Here he is, bye bye Elvis.

Elvis has left the building.

So, the things that are amazing about these animals.

The first thing why I picked a cat.

Now most people think when cats yawn they've got a funny little tongue.

If ever you've had a cat lick your hand or your finger then you'll know that it's quite rough.

At the end of a cat's tongue there are some little hollow tubes and this allows a huge amount of saliva to pass from the cat's tongue to its fur to clean itself and it also enables it to cool down.

The next animal I picked is a dog.

Now you may be able to tell from the picture that it's got its tongue stuck out.

When a dog normally breathes it will do about 30 or 40 breaths per minute.

If a dog has got hot then its amount of breathing will increase to maybe 200 to 230 breaths per minute.

It's tongue swells up.

It dangles out, and those ridiculous amount of breaths going from 20 or 30 up to over 200 passing over the tongue really helps cool the dog down.

So we've got a cat has got hollow tubes in its tongue to allow it to clean itself and cool down, a dog also will cool down with a tongue which grows in size and it will increase its breath and that will help remove heat from the whole body of the dog.

The next animal I picked was a chameleon, and this one I've always been fascinated by chameleons.

Unfortunately I do not have one at home to show you tonight but they can change colour to match their surroundings.

They must be the best animals at hide and seek.

So now it's time for the main task of the lesson.

You know that I've picked three animals, a cat, a dog, and a chameleon.

And what you've got to do with your animals or examples from nature, is you should have found three fascinating examples.

And what you're going to do is use that example to create a new material.

And after this slide, you'll see my example.

So what I've done is I've created a material and a product and I've used a cat, particularly my cat Elvis and its tongue as the inspiration.

The next thing is I picked a dog and its tongue, different product than what I've done for the cat but nevertheless I've used a dog and it's tongue and ability to cool down for my next material and product.

And lastly, I picked my chameleon and I've used the ability to change colour for my next material and product.

So you're going to design three different materials or products that are inspired from the animals or examples from nature you've picked.

So you can read this slide now.

If you're stuck, you can have a look at the example that I've done, but if not, have a go first and then see how your example compares to mine.

So here's my example.

I've decided to design three things.

My first item was a water saving washcloth.

And I thought that if you had a cloth and you dip it in water rather than leaving so much water in the place you dipped it from, if a huge amount could be contained within the cloth but then that water could be transferred for cleaning.

The next was a camouflage jacket.

So you could imagine maybe the army wearing a jacket and if they were stuck behind a brick wall, then they could blend in with the brick wall.

If they were in the jungle or the desert, then they could blend in with that.

So it was going to be a digital smart jacket that can change its appearance depending on what's close by.

The last one, this is a compartment that I've created within the sleeves of a jacket that could have a water cooled area with a flap and you'd lift it up, the flap would be held in place by Velcro and then if you needed to cool down while running or doing an exercise then the air would pass over this water containing parts and that would transfer something to the jacket to allow your temperature to drop.

So it's going to be a washcloth, camouflage jacket, and a body temperature maintaining jacket for wearing whilst running or doing an exercise based upon a dog's tongue.

I had loads of fun designing these, who knows maybe one day one of these products will be a reality.

Now that we're the end of the lesson, we're going to revisit the key terms and words.

So the first word or term was new and emerging technology.

So any advancements in new technology, new materials, ways of working and communicating, they're all classified as new and emerging technology.

The next term was nanomaterial.

This is all related to design at the molecular level.

So zero point, then eight zeros, and then a number really, really small.

So if you had a metre stick and you divide it by a thousand you get one millimetre, you divide that one millimetre by a million then you get a nanometer, so a really, really small part.

Next term was functionality.

So if you were to improve the functionality of something then you are improving the way it works.