Virtual Club Pelican
Transcript of Virtual Club Pelican
VirtualClubPelican
Project Title: BuildingBlocksof theBeehive Theme:Biomimicry:HexagonTessellationsofHoneycomb AgeRange: 7-12 years
PROJECTDESCRIPTION/INTRODUCTION: Studentswill examinetheshapeofthehexagoninhoneycomb.Theywilldiscoverwhythisshapeisimportanttothestructure,whereitis seenin otherobjectsinnatureandhowithas influencedthedesignofobjects weuseinoureverydaylives.Studentswillcreateahexagontessellationanddesigntheirownhoneycomb toshowcasethe hard-working busybeewhobroughtusthisphenomenon.
PROJECT MATERIALS:• WhiteDrawing Paper(size: 9"X 12", two pieces)• Cardstock (size: 1/4 sheet)• Scissors• Drawing Pencil• Eraser• BlackSharpie• ColoredMarkers• GlueStick
DISCUSSIONQUESTONS:
Whatishoneycomb?Ahoneycombisamassofhexagonalprismaticwaxcellsbuiltby honeybees intheirneststocontaintheirlarvaeandstoresofhoneyandpollen.
Whatisahexagonshape? A two-dimensional shapethathas6sides.
Howdoyouthinkbeesmakehoneycomb? Theglandsofworkerbeesconvertthesugarcontentsofhoneyintowax,whichoozesthroughthebee'ssmallporestoproducetinyflakesofwaxontheirabdomens.Workerschewthesepiecesofwaxuntiltheybecomesoftandmoldable,andthenaddthechewedwaxtothehoneycombconstruction.
Whydothebeesuseahexagonshapeandnotacircleoranothershape? Hexagonsappearinhoneycombsbecausetheyarethemostefficientwaytofillaspacewiththeleastamountofmaterial.Someshapestessellate,meaningtheycanberepeatedacrossasurfacewithoutleavinggapsoroverlapping.Tessellationensuresthatthere'sneitherwastedspacenorwastedenergy. Ifaseriesofcircleswerepackedontopofeachother,therewouldbe emptyspacesinbetweenthem.Theonlywayinwhich
theseemptyspacescanbeavoidedisbychangingtheshapetoahexagon.
Howdoyouthinkbeescreatetheperfecthexagonshapes? Workerbeesusetheirbodyasatooltomakecirclesinthewax.Astheyaremakingcircles,theirbodyheatmeltsthewaxwhichslowlyslipsalongthenetworkbetweencirclesasitchangesintohexagonshape.Thehexagonalcellisverystrong,andcreatesaverysolidstructure,inrelationtotheweightofthewaxused.
HowlongdoyouthinkittakestobuildandmakeHoneycomb? Itcantakeabout7daysto2monthsforbeestomaketheirhoneycomb.Inabout7daysfromtheearlybuildupandmovingin,honeybeescanaddfrom1to3poundsofhoneycombinsidethestructure.
Whatcanwelearnfromthebee’shoneycomb?Whydoyouthinkthehexagonshapeisimportantincertainmaterialsinourworld? Thehexagonis oneof thestrongestshapesknown.Hexagonalpatternsareprevalentinnatureduetotheirefficiency.Inahexagonalgrid(likethehoneycomb)eachlineisasshortasitcanpossiblybeifalargeareaistobefilledwiththefewestnumberofhexagons.Thismeansthathoneycombsrequirelesswaxtoconstructandgainlotsofstrengthundercompression.Itisalsooneoftheonlyshapeswhich tessellates (tofillaplanewithnogaps)perfectly(thinktiles;ifyoutiledawallwithhexagonsthentherewouldn'tbeanygaps). Honeycombshapesandmaterialsarewidelyusedwhereflatorslightlycurvedsurfacesareneededandtheirhighspecificstrengthisvaluable.Honeycomboffersbetterweight-to-strengthratiosinstructuresandobjects.
Whereelsedoyouseehexagonshapesinnature?
1. DragonflyEye: Ifyoulookcloselyatadragonfly,itseyesareacollectionoftinyeyesoftenknownascompoundeyes,eachofwhichfunctionsasanindividualvisualreceptor.Eacheyeformsashapeofthehexagon. Over30,000hexagonal shaped eyesarepackedtogether.Theresultisavisionthatscientistscallultra-multicolor.Itistheworld’smostadvancedtypeofvisionandisbetterthananythingwehaveseensofarintheanimalkingdom.
2. Snowflake: Theyaremesmerizingandquitemysteriousonhowtheygetthehexagonalshape. Todefineasnowflakeinthesimplestform,theyaretinydropletsofwaterthatarefrozeninmidair.Snowflakescomeindifferentshapesandsizes,butthemostpredominantshapeisthehexagon.
3. TurtleShells: Theirshellsarewhatprotectthem,andonthem,wecanalsofindhexagons. Theseslow-movinganimalsareprotectedwithahardshellthatismadeofoneofthetoughestcompoundsfoundinnature.Ifyoulookclosely,youcanseethattheentireshellisformedfromindividualsubunits- these cellshaveashaperesemblingahexagon.
Whereelsedoyouseehexagonshapesinourworld? What mimics thehoneycombstructure? Whydoyouthinkthisstructureisused?
1. NutsandBolts: Ahexagonalshapeisusedinnutsandboltheads. Hexagonisthepredominantlyusedshapefornutsandboltsbecauseofitsuniquefeatures.Withhexagons,thetooledgesfinditmucheasiertogripthebolt.Thismeansthatmoretorquecanbetransferredtothebolt.
2. SoccerBall: Themodern-day soccerball isamixofhexagons (6sides) andpentagons (5sides).Itismadefrompatchesof20hexagonsand12pentagons.Ahexagon istheonlyshapethatresemblesacirclethatalsoallowsforclosepackingwithoutleavingoutanywasted space. Thepentagonsareusedtofillinthespacesthatwilleventuallybindthingsuptogiveanearperfectsphericalstructure forthesoccerball.
3. Pencil: Thepencilsthatweusearehexagonallyshaped.Manybelievethatitisdonetopreventthepencilsfromrollingoffedges! Otherstheorizethattheshapegivesmaximumholdingcomfortandstrengthwhenbeingused.
4. ArtificialHoneycombStructures: Man-madehoneycombstructuralmaterials(cardboard,automotiveparts)arecommonlymadebylayeringahoneycombmaterialbetweentwothinlayersthatprovidestrengthintension.Thisformsaplate-likeassembly.Honeycombmaterialsarewidelyusedwhereflatorslightlycurvedsurfacesareneededandtheirhighspecificstrengthisvaluable.Theyarewidelyusedintheaerospaceindustryforthisreason,andhoneycombmaterialsinaluminum,fiberglassandadvancedcompositematerialshavebeenfeaturedinaircraftandrockets. Theycanalsobefoundinmanyotherfields,frompackagingmaterialsintheformofpaper-basedhoneycombcardboard,tosportinggoodslikeskisandsnowboards.
ARTPROJECTKEYTERMS: Biomimicryisthedesignandproductionofmaterials,structures,andsystemsthataremodeledonbiologicalentitiesandprocesses.
HoneycombStructureisastructureofhexagonalcellsofwax,madebybeestostorehoneyandeggs,astructureofadjoiningcavitiesorcells.
HexagonShapeisatwo-dimensionalshapethathas6sides,6verticesand6angles.
Tessellationisanarrangementofshapescloselyfittedtogetherinarepeatedpatternwithoutgapsoroverlapping.
Patterningisarepeatingunitofshapeorform.
Compositionisthewayvisualelementsareorganized,placed,orarrangedinaworkofart.
ARTMAKINGPROCESS: STEP1:TakeamomentandexaminetheHoneycombimagesbelow(Fig.A).Considertheshape,design,andstructureofthehoneycomb.
• Whatdoyounoticeaboutthehoneycomb?Doyouseeanyopeningsorspacewithinthestructure?Why?Whydoyouthinkthisisimportant?
STEP2:Createahexagonstencil–beginwithyourpieceofcardstockanddrawroughlya2”-3”hexagonshapeonit(youcanprintacopyofahexagon,cutitoutandtraceitifyou’dlike).Cuttheshapeyou drew out of the cardstock(Fig.1).STEP3:Considerhowyouwillbuildyourhoneycombimageonyoursheetofwhitepaper.Thinkaboutifyouwanttostartinonecorneratthebaseofyourpaperandworkfromlefttoright,orbegininthemiddleofyourpaper,buildingfromtheinsideout.
• Willyourhoneycombgostraightacrossfromsidetoside?Willitbeatanangle?• Howdoesabeebuildhishoneycomb?
STEP4:Begintracingyourhexagonshapewithyourpencil,stackingedgetoedgeasyougo (Fig. C). Fillyourentirepagewithahexagontessellation,somehexagonswillgoofftheedgeofyourpaper.Useyourblackmarkerandgooveryourpencillines,outliningthehexagonshapes.(Fig.2)STEP5:Useyourcoloredmarkerstocolorinyourhoneycombshapes.Youcanchoosetohaveapatternofcolorinyourhoneycomb,orhaveitbesolid(onecolor),orrandom(severaldifferentcolors).Thecolorchoiceisuptoyou (Fig.3).STEP6:Next,noticethedifferentpartsofthebeeandtheshapesinitsbody, considerthe beeproportion, andotherdetails (Fig.D).Thinkaboutthecompositionofyourworkofartandhowmanybeesyouwouldlike tohave.Youcanchoosetohaveonelargebee,orafewsmallbees.Itcanbeasimplelinedrawing,orhavelotsofdetail, itisuptoyou!Thinkaboutwhereyouwillplacetheminyourartwork.STEP7:Design your bee(s): onyoursecond whitepieceofpaper,useapenciltolightlydrawjustthebodyandwingsofyourbee(s)consideringsize,angle andshape.Whenyourbeesarepenciledin,useablackSharpieormarkertooutlinethebeeandadddetailstothebody andwings.Eraseanypencilmarks.Useyourcoloredmarkerstocolorthemin.(Fig.4)STEP8:Cutouteachbeeanduseyourgluesticktosecurethemintoplaceonyourhoneycombbackground.Useyourblack sharpietoaddtheantennaeandlegsifyou’dlike.STEP9:Whenyouarehappywiththelayoutofyourbeesandhowyourartworklooks,yourworkofartiscomplete!(Fig.5)
POSTPROMPTQUESTIONS(reflectandshare):
1. Whatdoyoulikebestaboutyourartwork?2. Howdoyoulikeworkingwiththestructureoftessellationpatterning?3. Doyoufeelyourartprojectrepresentsabeehive?4. Whatdoyouwantpeopletoknowaboutyourartwork?
ARTPROJECTSTEPBYSTEPEXAMPLE:
FIG. 1 FIG. 2 FIG. 3
Fig.A–HoneycombImages:
FIG. 4 FIG. 5
Fig.C–HexagonTessellation:
Fig.D–BeeInformation:
Beesareatypeofinsectthathasthreebodyparts:head,thorax,andabdomen.Therearethreetypesofbeesinabeehive(queen,worker,anddrone)andeachtypeperformsdistincttaskstomaintainthe colony.Beesrepresentenvironmentalprotectionaswellashardwork.
• Beeshavetwolargecompoundeyesthatallowthemtoseeallaround.Eachcompoundeyeismadeupofmorethan6,000smalllenses,whichareeachlikeaseparateeye.
• Theantennaeontopofabee’sheadhelpitsmell,feel,andtaste.• Themiddlesectionofabee’sbodyiscalledthethorax.Threepairsoflegsandtwopairsofwingsare
attachedtothethorax.• Therearofabee’sbodyiscalledtheabdomen.Femaleworkerbeesproducethewaxusedtobuildthehive
usingthispartoftheirbody.Femalebeeshavestingersattheendoftheirabdomens,whilemalebeesdonot.
• Thequeenisthelargestbeeinthecolonyandistheonlyonethatcanlayeggs.• Workerbees,whichareallfemale,buildthehivewithwaxsecretedintheirabdomens.Workersalsocare
fortheyoungbees,defendthehive,andforageforpollenandnectar.• Dronesaremalebeesthathavethesoletaskofmatingwiththequeen.
Fig.B–HexagonShape