Beastly Bionics: Rad Robots, Brilliant Biomimicry, and Incredible Inventions Inspired by Nature

Brilliant book for use in a STEAM class and for any student interested in engineering, science, and/or animals.

Robotic spiders engaged in search and rescue missions? Robot sea stars that teach themselves how to walk? Bandages inspired by slug slime? Hospital supplies delivered by robotic bats?Author Jennifer Swanson has done it again! Fascinating, super engaging facts about how scientists and engineers study nature (bionics) or structures/functions in nature (biomimetics) to create designs that solve real world problems (biomimicry).Swanson's writing DRAWS READERS IN -- "The spider moves closer. Your body tenses. When it reaches your hand, you grab it. As you pick it up, you notice the tiny camera, focusing right on you. Gotcha! Your friend wins again. Of course, it wasn't fair using a robot spider to find you" (p. 7).Swanson's written EXPLANATIONS ARE KID-FRIENDLY-- "It's not easy to build a robot spider with lots of moving parts. After all, a spider has eight legs, each of which can rotate, flex, and extend on its own...To make a robot spider walk, engineers needed to create thousands of lines of computer code, with directions telling the robot how to work its legs..." (p. 9)There's a CONSISTENT FORMAT THAT SUPPORTS READERS as they make sense of complex ideas. On most two-page layouts, Swanson presents a "design dilemma" which describes a current problem in the world or a problem with current technology and then she presents "building bionics" or an explanation of how engineers/scientists are using what they know about animals to solve this problem. She's also grouped the presentations. For example, chapter three is on technology related to "energy" - solar power, light bulbs, reducing carbon emissions, etc. and chapter four is on technology related to helping humans heal.The LAYOUT & DESIGN HAS KID-APPEAL. Big, beautiful, and closeup shots of animals and the technology being created. Bite size pieces of text--main text and side bars-- make this easy for our students to consume.I'd recommend this for 3rd-9th grade. BOOK TALK, read aloud about a particular animal (maybe one a day for a week or so?), project and share several of the two-page layouts and I'm sure it will be grabbed up. This is also the kind of book you can return to again and again throughout the school year, depending on what you're studying in science (think STEM)--referring to excerpts and Swanson's writing plus the layout and design would make for a great MENTOR TEXT during writing workshop or when students are engaged in their own research.I bought a copy of this book from Hicklebee's, an independently owned bookstore in San Jose, CA.

I was planning to give this book to my son for Christmas but he saw the cover peeking out. One look and he was hooked! As a kid interested in all things STEM, this book was the perfect intersection of science, technology, and engineering to help him explore and think in creative ways. This book takes a 'big picture' approach which is so refreshing to see. I want him to know that STEM is BIG, and there's still so much to discover. He's been sitting with it for close to an hour now - and he NEVER sits :) Highly recommend!

An amazing book for grown ups and kiddos alike. My 13-year-old was fascinated by this book which looks at how animals have influenced and inspired technology. I love that it offers bite-sized information, and you can read as much or as little as you like. Multiple text features and beautiful, full-color photographs make this a winner.

Wasn't very useful. Beautiful photos.

National Geographic and Jennifer Swanson do it again! Beastly Bionics is an amazing book that will have kids enthralled with the images, ideas, and writing. My students could not believe how scientists have used biomimicry to create these fascinating inventions. There was a buzz around the room when I first got this book and then students were begging to borrow it. We were so inspired we made our own beastly bionics inventions. Highly recommend this book. Your kids and students will love it!