This book explains that many plants and animals stay waterproof by making waxy stuff that keeps them dry. The author asks—can we mimic plants and animals by using waxy stuff to keep our things dry?

How Do We Stay Dry?

Method 1. Each student places a drop of water on paper sneaker #1. Does the paper get wet? 2. Students use their fingers to apply a liberal amount of beeswax onto paper sneaker #2. Then they place a drop of water onto the sneaker. Does the paper sneaker get wet? 3. Students apply a substance of their choice (like crayon) to sneaker #3 to see if it will waterproof the paper sneaker. Does it repel water? Why or why not? Discuss: What did we learn from our experiment? Students draw a picture of a plant or animal they mimicked.

When it rains, honeybees stay dry inside their hive. Beehives stay dry because they are made of waxy stuff called beeswax.

Image credit: https://www.honeybeesuite.com/open-air-colonies-from-coast-to-coast/

Beeswax also protects their honey from washing away in the rain and drying out in the sun.

Can you see the honey in the uncapped cells?

Beeswax comes from the bees tummy! Can you see the white patches of beeswax?

Watercolor texture 1

Waxy stuff keeps plants and many kinds of animals dry. 

Sheep hair is called wool and it is waterproof! Water rolls off the wool because it's covered with waxy stuff called lanolin. Lanolin keeps sheep dry!

Can we use waxy stuff to keep our things dry?

Worker bees protect growing baby bees with a cap made of beeswax. It keeps baby bees safe and dry!

Can you find a baby bee in an uncapped cell?

Duck feathers stay dry even if a duck swims all day. Their feathers are covered with waxy stuff called preen oil.

Sheep enjoy playing in the sun, and eating grass and clover. But what happens when it rains? 

Water lilies sit in a pond all day. Cutin protects the leaves and flowers from getting waterlogged!

Did you ever wonder how animals and plants stay dry when it rains? In this book, we will study animals and plants to learn how they keep themselves dry. Then we will experiment with materials to see if we can mimic them to make paper sneakers waterproof!

Ducks have glands that make preen oil. Ducks spread the oil all around their body when they are preening. Preen oil keeps ducks dry!

All plants make waxy stuff called cutin. It covers their leaves, stems and fruit. Cutin protects plants from the rain and from drying out in the sun.

Can we mimic nature to waterproof sneakers? Let's experiment with materials to see if they can waterproof (paper) sneakers. Biomimicry Experiment Teacher/Parent Notes Materials: 1. <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Q30EtTxugaps5EM4JPlvoBGvLiv8VTvj/view?usp=share_link">Student Handout</a>—1/student. 2. Plastic droppers—1/student. 3. Small cup of water—1/students. 4. Small 1 oz. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B079CG8RX2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&amp;psc=1">metal tin</a> of <a href="https://www.michaels.com/simple-serenity-lip-balm-base-by-artminds/10551459.html">beeswax</a> (with coconut oil)—1/student. 5. With adult supervision, kids choose other materials to test.

What would you like to waterproof?