The BioSTEAM Design Tool provides the step-by-step process to engage you the student, with the Pollinator Concentrator, a site-specific interspecies installation at the Rio Fernando Park created by BioSTEAM Lab artist, Ana MacArthur. The central theme is biodiversity loss and pollinator decline. Imagine an invention or solution that is inspired by your research about how things work in nature through art, science, technology and culture. Click on each stage below to get started.
- Explore how the artist applied nature-inspired design to this installation. What is nature-inspired design? What is biomimicry? How do they inform creative design? Meet the experts fron diverse disciplines that are committed to protecting biodiversity in their own way. Learn why conserving biodiversity is pivotal to the health of our planet and our communities.
- Research how interdisciplinary science and new technologies are helping us understand nature in a new way. Investigate how cutting edge technologies are being used to protect or destroy nature. What is the science behind how pollinators navigate and pollinate? How can this knowledge help you design and to build with nature?
- Experiment with BioSTEAM activities that will open your mind to new ways of thinking and designing inspired by how things work in science and nature. Here you will have find hands-on activities to try out.
- Connect with nature. Visit the installation and Rio Fernando park, physically or virtually to experience it for yourself. Participate in our curated citizen science projects and study your pollinators up close in their natural habitat.
- Design a pollinator-inspired BIO-MACHINE to share with friends and family to raise awareness to the importance of protecting biodiversity and pollinators. Submit your design to the BioSTEAM Design Challenge.
STEMarts Design Tool
Explore the artist work and INTERviews
Ana MacArthur makes art that speaks to the relationship between environmental intelligence, the study of light and applied technologies. In Pollinator Concentrator, a site-specific art installation, the artist allows us to reflect on pollinator decline and biodiversity. Pollinators are vital to creating and maintaining the diverse habitats and ecosystems that we and all species rely on for food and shelter. Through a collaboration with local community experts a pollinator garden, sun dial and water catchment system that nourishes local pollinators was integrated into the design.
- Explore Ana MacArthur’s Artist Page to see the installation and learn about her concept and process. Get inspired!
- Watch the INTERviews to hear the inter-disciplinary and inter-cultural experts share why biodiversity and pollinators are important to our planet, to our community, and to our food security.
- Explore the three core topics around biodiversity that are interwoven throughout this project.
- Search the BioSTEAM wiki with the keyword EXPLORE to learn more.
Research the science behind the art
From sundials to microscopes to data algorithms, science and technology have always been used to observe and understand nature. For example, did you know that migratory birds detect tiny variations in the direction of the Earth’s magnetic field to navigate? Or that flowers play with light, using mechanical tricks, and harnessing electrostatic forces to attract pollinators. When quantum mechanics is used to understand biological processes it is called quantum biology and it has created a whole new way of seeing the world around us. Quantum mechanics is also behind GPS (Global Positioning System) used to detect and monitor pollinators. GPS Wildlife Tracking can remotely observe migratory patterns of birds. Dive into the BioSTEAM Wiki below and see what ignites your curiosity.
- Search the BioSTEAM wiki with the keyword RESEARCH to learn about the science & technology behind the project.
- Start to imagine the technology you would like to use for your design.
Experiment with new ways of seeing nature
A major theme in Ana MacArthur’s work is biomimicry and nature-inspired design. Biomimicry is an innovative approach to design that emulates natural systems and strategies to create sustainable solutions to the world’s challenges. Can understanding how nature works inspire new ideas? How do insects see and how can we apply this to our design?
The greatest challenge in science today is finding ways to “see” and understand the invisible connections between life on the nanoscale that we can only see through the application of science and technology, and life on the macro scale which is the biological world we see and feel around us. It is an exciting time to be explorers of this unchartered territory. What can we learn from instruments used to “see” invisible fields or waves? What can we learn from living organisms that see things differently from us? How can these ideas inform your design process or the materials you work with?
- Search the Bio STEAM wiki with the keyword EXPERIMENT for hands-on activities and new ways of thinking and designing.
- Start sketching and documenting ideas for your design.
Connect with nature
The best way to design with nature is to connect with nature. That means spending time being quiet with the natural world whether in your backyard, in your school garden or community park. If you are in Taos, visit the installation and Rio Fernando park, physically or virtually to experience it for yourself. Participate in our curated citizen science projects and study your pollinators up close in their natural habitat. This is a great way to practice quiet observation and see the amazing details of the pollinator species. There are many ways you can connect with people and with nature to get more involved. The Taos Land Trust has volunteer opportunities that help restore the Rio Fernando watershed. There are local and even global opportunities to get involved and create solutions to the challenge of species decline and biodiversity loss.
- Visit the Citizen Science page to participate in real time science projects while connecting with nature and observing pollinators.
- Volunteer with local organizations to help with ecological restoration efforts.
- Join the BioSTEAM Youth Corps for fun after school or summer opportunities.
- Search the BioSTEAM wiki below with the keyword CONNECT to see volunteer opportunities.
BIO-MACHINE: Pollinator-inspired design
Now that you have explored, researched and experimented around the topic of biodiversity and pollinators and the diverse ways to experience nature, it is time to design! What has inspired you or changed your way of seeing things? Was there a new technology or science research that you did not know about that gave you an idea? Is there a pollinator species that you would like to explore further? How can your understanding of traditional ecological ways of experiencing nature inspire your approach? Choose one or more pollinators to inform your design. Study the BioSTEAM Design Challenge criteria and submit your design. Winning entries will be included on our website gallery. We look forward to seeing what you come up with!
- Search the BioSTEAM wiki with the keyword DESIGN to access nature-inspired design ideas.
- Share your final design with family and friends at school or through social media.
- Review the BioSTEAM Design Challenge guidelines and criteria to submit your design.
STEMarts Wiki
The BioSTEAM-Wiki is where you will find links to articles, images, video, and tutorials that we have collected from the web around the broad topic of Biodiversity and Human Impact. You can navigate the BioSTEAM Wiki by entering keywords into the search field below or clicking through the word cloud. Word clouds visualize the amount of information available on a topic – the bigger the word in the cloud, the more links to explore. The BioSTEAM-Wiki is just a starting point. We encourage you to do your own research to see what you find.
Remember this resource is an open-source forum that shares links and ideas that others have created or shared – always check your sources and give credit where credit is due. The open-source movement generously shares its knowledge and relies on user feedback – so if there’s something really good or doesn’t work let others know.
QUICK START: Type in the key word of the stage you are working on: Connect, Explore, Research, Create or Radiate. This will give you resources that you need for that stage of the design process.
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