Before After Reading Activities Before Reading Building Academic Vocabulary and Background Knowledge Before reading a book it is important to tap into what your child or students already know about the topic This will help them develop their vocabulary increase their reading comprehension and make connections across the curriculum be about about in the book’s chapters 1 Look at the cover of the book What will this book 2 What do you already know about the topic 3 Let’s study the Table of Contents What will you learn 4 What would you like to learn about this topic Do you think you might learn about it from this book Why or why not 5 Use a reading journal to write about your knowledge of 6 Read the book 7 8 After reading the book complete the activities below this topic Record what you already know about the topic and what you hope to learn about the topic In your reading journal record what you learned about the topic and your response to the book Content Area Vocabulary Read the list What do these words mean biomimicry biomineralization biomorphic carbon dioxide exoskeleton hydrophilic hydrophobic porous pyramidal resilient turbines After Reading Comprehension and Extension Activity After reading the book work on the following questions with your child or students in order to check their level of reading comprehension and content mastery 1 What ways do building designers and engineers mimic nature Summarize 2 What does a tree do to survive and grow that has inspired biomimicry in building Asking questions 3 What kind of house would you build that mimicked the way nature survives Text to self connection 4 How can biomimicry in building help reduce CO2 emissions Asking questions 5 Why is inspiration from nature a good way to create new kinds of building products and structures infer Extension Activity Building designers are often inspired by nature From this list of animals think of something they do that inspired an idea for a builder desert beetle bird sea sponge termite mussel
Table of Contents Introduction 4 Biomimicry in Design and Energy Conservation 10 Nature-Inspired Building Materials 28 Biomimicry Systems in Living Buildings 36 Activity 44 Glossary 46 Index 47 Show What You Know 47 Further Reading 47 About the Author 48
Introduction Spookfish live deep in the ocean where there is very little light Spookfish have specialized eyes that work as mirrors to help them to see Its eyes are split so that one half points up toward daylight and the other points down to the dark ocean depths This feature allows the fish to pick up low levels of light The mirrors aim the light down where possible meals are swimming by mirror A spookfish’s down-facing eyes use mirrors instead of lenses with hundreds of tiny crystals collecting and focusing light 4
