Wild Inventions Format: Library Bound

What do animals have to do with inventions?

Welcome to the world of bioinspiration! Inventors observe and imitate strategies and adaptations that animals use in the natural world to find inspiration for new creations.

Sometimes two animal species face a similar challenge and come up with two very different ways for dealing with it. For instance, both sharks and pangolins have special skin that protects them from harm. Shark skin inspired a type of armor for boats, and pangolins inspired the design of a helmet for humans. Wild Inventions introduces six pairs of animals and the inventions they inspired. Take a peek at the creative process involved in designing new inventions to help people stay safe, live more comfortably, and go places and do things that weren’t previously possible.

Sandra Markle is the author of numerous award-winning books for children. A former elementary science teacher, she is a nationally-known science education consultant. Markle has received many honors for her series Animal Predators, Animal Scavengers, and Animal Prey. Several titles have been named as National Science Teachers Association (NSTA)/Children’s Book Council (CBC) Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K-12, and Animal Predators was honored as a Top 10 Youth Nonfiction Series by Booklist.

More than 500 schools participate in Markle's Book Explorers program which provides free resource-packed emails and classroom activities. Markle lives in Lakewood Ranch, Florida with her husband, photographer Skip Jeffery.