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Biomimicry

What Would Nature Do?

The Next Generation of Students Uses Biomimicry to Tackle
Real-life Problems

 

“I think the biggest innovations of the 21st century will be at the intersection of biology and technology. A new era is beginning.”

— Steve Jobs

Applying Strategies from Nature

At a time when there is great need for sustainable solutions to solve pressing global challenges, biomimicry is an approach to innovation that emulates nature’s time-tested patterns and strategies. Animals, plants, and microbes, after all, are all engineers aided by billions of years of research and development in the form of evolution and natural selection. As humans work to reduce our footprint to “net zero” impact, it is worth noting nature often goes even further: these outputs are usually beneficial to whatever is nearby.

 

Seneca Park Zoo Society’s Environmental Innovation Awards honors local and regional innovators working to create solutions to current environmental issues. Our Upper School biomimicry club was the Youth category winners for their HumanGrove project.

Our Upper School Biomimicry Club

The Biomimicry Club at The Harley School, an independent day school in Rochester, NY, recently created a solution that could mitigate the effects of increases in storm intensity and frequency on coastline erosion. The design for their project, HuMANGROVE, was inspired by the roots of mangrove trees. This marriage of science and technology, along with creative and inspirational thinking, was recently recognized as The 2018 Environmental Innovation Award winner in the youth category by the Seneca Park Zoo Society and third place in the Biomimicry Institute’s national Biomimicry Youth Design Challenge.

Middle School Embraces Design Process Thinking

Harley students in Grade 5 science began thinking about biomimicry during their unit on ecosystems. In Grade 6, they have five teams who will be entering this year’s challenge, with all their work completed as part of class.

When Middle School students first begin thinking about biomimicry they often gravitate toward biomorphism (“A giraffe’s neck is long, so I’m going to make my design long too.”) and focus on a trait without looking at the function. As they learned to “biologize” the problem they were able to explore the question, “How does nature…?” By thinking, for example, of ways to develop something strong, they began by considering what in nature is strong and why.

Harley School’s maker educator, Kima Enerson, is bringing a design process approach to the Middle School. By starting with a scrum board to track tasks and their progress, the students are learning ways to think about how to manage a project. This also helps students find—and own—aspects of the process. Whether they design using TinkerCad or explore potential materials to use, all the students are involved.

Press coverage of our Middle and Upper School teams—who earned honorable mention and second place nationally in 2019.

Lower School

Multiple Upper School capstones have focused on teaching biomimicry concepts to Lower School classes. One student taught a series of lessons about biomimicry to Grade 4, then students explored the major concepts of biomimicry and designed their own project. 

Why Biomimicry?

Biomimicry teaches children a compelling narrative backed by fascinating natural phenomena which can inspire solutions to human problems as often as the those generated in the traditional manufacturing world. These young scientists are making, observing, questioning, experimenting, ideating, and designing. As the next generation of thinkers grows up, they can adapt these lessons to develop better, more regenerative alternatives to the typical “take, make, and waste” approaches to design.

Taking the Lead

Upper School faculty member, Dr. Betsy Vinton, recently spoke at Green Schools Conference & Expo in Saint Paul, Minn. She presented with Gretchen Hooker from the Biomimicry Institute on engaging students in sustainable design with biomimicry.

Coverage in the Monroe County Post:

Betsy Vinton, science department co-chair and upper school mathematics and science teacher at The Harley School, spoke at the 2019 Green Schools Conference and Expo in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Vinton presented alongside with Gretchen Hooker from the Biomimicry Institute on engaging students in science, technology, engineering and math; and sustainable design with biomimicry youth design challenges. Vinton leads The Harley School’s biomimicry club, which earned third place last year in the Biomimicry Institute’s national, inaugural Biomimicry Youth Design Challenge for its project, huMANGROVE.

The Green Schools Conference and Expo was established by The Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council and the Green Schools National Network and celebrates the work being done by people, schools, campuses and organizations to push the green schools’ movement forward.

Betsy Vinton

Upper School Mathematics and Science/Biology/Department Co-Chair

bvinton@harleyschool.org

 (585) 442-1770 X-1267

The Harley School

1981 Clover Street
Rochester, NY 14618
(585) 442-1770

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College Counseling

Harley’s Approach to College Counseling is highly individualized and student-centered. Students have direct access to college counselors throughout their Upper School experience, but really, each student is part of a team including faculty, administration, and staff. It’s our job to support each student and we want nothing more than to send students on to the next step of their journey at a right fit school for them. The student centered and driven process is wrapped in care, expertise, and professionalism.

We host college reps during times students are available (no need to miss a class) so they can make connections and learn more about potential schools. We also arrange campus visits for classes as field trips, host an alumni college day (where recent Upper School graduates return to share advice and answer questions), and help connect students with our international alumni network. In fact, representatives from schools all over the world actively seek opportunities to come to Harley and meet with our students!

Our college counselors are accredited and are part of national/global conversations on admission trends. They also attend and present at conferences across the country.

Beginning with our Grade 11 parent night, we offer informational sessions for parents, including one devoted just to financial aid. Our partnership with families is critical, as the college admissions world changes very quickly and having an expert to guide students and families through the process is essential.

View the downloadable College Counseling Guide

Clubs

“Club Rush” is an afternoon every fall in the Upper School when students have the chance to sign up for clubs for the year, and each year it is very different because new clubs are created based on student initiative and enthusiasm.

A few of this year’s choices: Sports Media, Social Action Club, Journalism Club, Feminism Club, Student of Color & Allies (SOCA), Gay-Straight Alliance, Tri M (music honor society), E-Sports Club, Euchre, Key Club (service), Animation Club, Dungeons & Dragons, Sustainability Club, Jewish Cultural Club, Astronomy Club, Biomimicry, and Beyond Soup (social justice/service).

Athletics

​Each and every year, students at The Harley School participate in HAC Athletics, and their success continues to be impressive, both as students and athletes. Our athletic program is an integral part of Harley, teaching student-athletes invaluable lessons about teamwork, time management, persistence, and competition.  Our program allows them to develop physically, mentally, socially, and emotionally as they represent their school on and off the field. They grow, mature, and work hard to be the best teammate they can, while creating lifelong memories with teammates who often remain friends for life. 

Helping our athletes to reach their potential are some of HAC’s best assets: our coaches. More often than not, they are drawn from the ranks of our faculty and  have a deep understanding of the personalities and abilities of the student-athletes on their teams.  

We strive to find the right balance of academics, exercise, and personal growth for everyone.  By offering a variety of sports at many different levels, all student-athletes find a sport they can be successful in. It is with great pride and pleasure that my team and I work to enrich the athletic lives of all our HAC student-athletes. Go Wolves! 

To learn more check out our athletics page.

Student Leadership

Our Upper School is filled with formal and informal opportunities for students to take on leadership roles. Whether following passions or learning new skills, student-driven opportunities take many shapes.

– Independent study: one trimester, full year, and multi-year projects have included automating our solar chimneys, coding handmade musical instruments, or developing a class on financial literacy for underserved high school students.

– Serving on student council

– STEM: Climate curriculum program, biomimicry program, NASA Hunch program

Clubs

“Club Rush” is an afternoon every fall in the Upper School when students have the chance to sign up for clubs for the year, and each year it is very different because new clubs are created based on student initiative and enthusiasm.

A few of this year’s choices: Sports Media, Social Action Club, Journalism Club, Feminism Club, Student of Color & Allies (SOCA), Gay-Straight Alliance, Tri M (music honor society), E-Sports Club, Euchre, Key Club (service), Animation Club, Dungeons & Dragons, Sustainability Club, Jewish Cultural Club, Astronomy Club, Biomimicry, and Beyond Soup (social justice/service).

Hospice

Unlike this class, death is not an elective. Although it is one of two universal human experiences, our culture often ignores, denies, or misconstrues the true nature of death and dying. What happens when we bear witness to this natural process in the cycle of life and develop our ability to be fully present with others when they need us more than ever? It has the potential to change us deeply and fundamentally while shining a brilliant light on the path of our own lives.

With the support of their classmates, teacher, and comfort care home communities, senior students are offered the chance to care for others who truly need their purposeful, non-judgmental attention. In the home-like setting of a comfort care home, opportunities for learning extend beyond a traditional classroom rubric and conventional methods of evaluation. In this course, students will certainly find tangible “learning outcomes” by studying the medical/physical processes associated with dying and the basic nursing assistant skills of comfort care. The ultimate goal, however, will always be rooted in true relationships and connection, which occurs only through empathy and compassion.

Learn more about the Hospice Program at Harley HERE.

Capstone/Independent Studies

This program utilizes environmentally-focused approaches to education and hands-on learning in order to foster the next generation of leaders through a lens of sustainability and problem-solving.

Food & Farm: These year-long and trimester-long classes are held outside as much as possible, allowing students to become leaders in our various growing spaces. They cover environmental justice issues as well as hands-on work such as planning and overseeing planting, harvesting, and preparation of the gardens.

Past year-long focus projects have included: Creating a native plant shade garden in the Wild Wood area, redesigning our hydroponic system, overhauling Harley’s high tunnel, and improving the irrigation system for the MicroFarm.

Culinary Arts: These classes have a two-fold purpose: to give students practical skills in cooking and the science behind different techniques in the kitchen, learning about food justice, food sourcing, labor topics, and sustainability.

Past topics have included: Examining a plant-based diet, looking at the carbon footprint of different meals and food preparation methods, proposing a low carbon footprint menu to the dining hall, links between food labeling and environmental issues of food production.

Beekeeping: This one trimester class provides hands-on training in beekeeping, how to be a beekeeper, and safety and other techniques for working with bees. Once trained students help with all aspects of Harley beekeeping such as hive inspections, honey collection and extraction, and teaching students in Lower School about our hives.

Students pick a research topic addressing honeybee health and the larger environmental picture.

Social Justice

At Harley, our students learn how to evaluate social systems in order to identify complex problems in society through a lens of social justice. They take a hands-on approach to working for a fair, equitable society by researching, exploring and evaluating different perspectives, and offering solutions—both theoretical and practical.

Our faculty integrate social justice into our broader curriculum to assist students in gaining a foundational knowledge about what makes a democracy function. By gaining skills in ideating supportive pathways they become more exposed and experienced to how communities can undergo healing and restorative actions.

 

Capstone/Independent Studies

Students may create independent studies with supervising teachers throughout their Upper School experience or, during Grade 12, they can design Capstone projects—intensive collaborations with Harley faculty and off-campus mentors—involving rigorous academic study and culminating in public presentations. They are empowered to create their own curriculum, set goals, and work on time management skills in order to accomplish their objectives.

Independent Studies run the gamut from The Psychology of Sports to Furniture Design to The Neuroimaging of Alzheimer’s Disease. Capstones, meanwhile, are as diverse as the students who pursue them: Fictional Rochester, Autobiographical Art, Biomimicry Education, Organic Fuel, and Rochester Refugees. 

Indicative of Upper School curiosity and creativity, pursuits such as these distinguish our graduates in college. Through deep dives of this sort, Harley students master more than speaking, writing, and computing: they learn to communicate, advocate, collaborate, organize, listen, and empathize. 

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