VirtualClubPelican

Project Title: BuildingBlocksof theBeehive Theme:Biomimicry:HexagonTessellationsofHoneycomb AgeRange: 7-12 years 

PROJECTDESCRIPTION/INTRODUCTION: Studentswill examinetheshapeofthehexagoninhoneycomb.Theywilldiscoverwhythisshapeisimportanttothestructure,whereitis seenin otherobjectsinnatureandhowithas influencedthedesignofobjects weuseinoureverydaylives.Studentswillcreateahexagontessellationanddesigntheirownhoneycomb toshowcasethe hard-working busybeewhobroughtusthisphenomenon. 

PROJECT MATERIALS:• WhiteDrawing Paper(size: 9"X 12", two pieces)• Cardstock (size: 1/4 sheet)• Scissors• Drawing Pencil• Eraser• BlackSharpie• ColoredMarkers• GlueStick

DISCUSSIONQUESTONS:   

Whatishoneycomb?Ahoneycombisamassofhexagonalprismaticwaxcellsbuiltby honeybees intheirneststocontaintheirlarvaeandstoresofhoneyandpollen. 

Whatisahexagonshape? A two-dimensional shapethathas6sides.

Howdoyouthinkbeesmakehoneycomb? Theglandsofworkerbeesconvertthesugarcontentsofhoneyintowax,whichoozesthroughthebee'ssmallporestoproducetinyflakesofwaxontheirabdomens.Workerschewthesepiecesofwaxuntiltheybecomesoftandmoldable,andthenaddthechewedwaxtothehoneycombconstruction. 

Whydothebeesuseahexagonshapeandnotacircleoranothershape? Hexagonsappearinhoneycombsbecausetheyarethemostefficientwaytofillaspacewiththeleastamountofmaterial.Someshapestessellate,meaningtheycanberepeatedacrossasurfacewithoutleavinggapsoroverlapping.Tessellationensuresthatthere'sneitherwastedspacenorwastedenergy. Ifaseriesofcircleswerepackedontopofeachother,therewouldbe emptyspacesinbetweenthem.Theonlywayinwhich

theseemptyspacescanbeavoidedisbychangingtheshapetoahexagon. 

Howdoyouthinkbeescreatetheperfecthexagonshapes? Workerbeesusetheirbodyasatooltomakecirclesinthewax.Astheyaremakingcircles,theirbodyheatmeltsthewaxwhichslowlyslipsalongthenetworkbetweencirclesasitchangesintohexagonshape.Thehexagonalcellisverystrong,andcreatesaverysolidstructure,inrelationtotheweightofthewaxused. 

HowlongdoyouthinkittakestobuildandmakeHoneycomb? Itcantakeabout7daysto2monthsforbeestomaketheirhoneycomb.Inabout7daysfromtheearlybuildupandmovingin,honeybeescanaddfrom1to3poundsofhoneycombinsidethestructure. 

Whatcanwelearnfromthebee’shoneycomb?Whydoyouthinkthehexagonshapeisimportantincertainmaterialsinourworld? Thehexagonis oneof thestrongestshapesknown.Hexagonalpatternsareprevalentinnatureduetotheirefficiency.Inahexagonalgrid(likethehoneycomb)eachlineisasshortasitcanpossiblybeifalargeareaistobefilledwiththefewestnumberofhexagons.Thismeansthathoneycombsrequirelesswaxtoconstructandgainlotsofstrengthundercompression.Itisalsooneoftheonlyshapeswhich tessellates (tofillaplanewithnogaps)perfectly(thinktiles;ifyoutiledawallwithhexagonsthentherewouldn'tbeanygaps). Honeycombshapesandmaterialsarewidelyusedwhereflatorslightlycurvedsurfacesareneededandtheirhighspecificstrengthisvaluable.Honeycomboffersbetterweight-to-strengthratiosinstructuresandobjects. 

Whereelsedoyouseehexagonshapesinnature? 

1. DragonflyEye: Ifyoulookcloselyatadragonfly,itseyesareacollectionoftinyeyesoftenknownascompoundeyes,eachofwhichfunctionsasanindividualvisualreceptor.Eacheyeformsashapeofthehexagon. Over30,000hexagonal shaped eyesarepackedtogether.Theresultisavisionthatscientistscallultra-multicolor.Itistheworld’smostadvancedtypeofvisionandisbetterthananythingwehaveseensofarintheanimalkingdom.

2. Snowflake: Theyaremesmerizingandquitemysteriousonhowtheygetthehexagonalshape. Todefineasnowflakeinthesimplestform,theyaretinydropletsofwaterthatarefrozeninmidair.Snowflakescomeindifferentshapesandsizes,butthemostpredominantshapeisthehexagon.

3. TurtleShells: Theirshellsarewhatprotectthem,andonthem,wecanalsofindhexagons. Theseslow-movinganimalsareprotectedwithahardshellthatismadeofoneofthetoughestcompoundsfoundinnature.Ifyoulookclosely,youcanseethattheentireshellisformedfromindividualsubunits- these cellshaveashaperesemblingahexagon.

Whereelsedoyouseehexagonshapesinourworld? What mimics thehoneycombstructure? Whydoyouthinkthisstructureisused?

1. NutsandBolts: Ahexagonalshapeisusedinnutsandboltheads. Hexagonisthepredominantlyusedshapefornutsandboltsbecauseofitsuniquefeatures.Withhexagons,thetooledgesfinditmucheasiertogripthebolt.Thismeansthatmoretorquecanbetransferredtothebolt.

2. SoccerBall: Themodern-day soccerball isamixofhexagons (6sides) andpentagons (5sides).Itismadefrompatchesof20hexagonsand12pentagons.Ahexagon istheonlyshapethatresemblesacirclethatalsoallowsforclosepackingwithoutleavingoutanywasted space. Thepentagonsareusedtofillinthespacesthatwilleventuallybindthingsuptogiveanearperfectsphericalstructure forthesoccerball.

3. Pencil: Thepencilsthatweusearehexagonallyshaped.Manybelievethatitisdonetopreventthepencilsfromrollingoffedges! Otherstheorizethattheshapegivesmaximumholdingcomfortandstrengthwhenbeingused.

4. ArtificialHoneycombStructures: Man-madehoneycombstructuralmaterials(cardboard,automotiveparts)arecommonlymadebylayeringahoneycombmaterialbetweentwothinlayersthatprovidestrengthintension.Thisformsaplate-likeassembly.Honeycombmaterialsarewidelyusedwhereflatorslightlycurvedsurfacesareneededandtheirhighspecificstrengthisvaluable.Theyarewidelyusedintheaerospaceindustryforthisreason,andhoneycombmaterialsinaluminum,fiberglassandadvancedcompositematerialshavebeenfeaturedinaircraftandrockets. Theycanalsobefoundinmanyotherfields,frompackagingmaterialsintheformofpaper-basedhoneycombcardboard,tosportinggoodslikeskisandsnowboards.

ARTPROJECTKEYTERMS:   Biomimicryisthedesignandproductionofmaterials,structures,andsystemsthataremodeledonbiologicalentitiesandprocesses.

HoneycombStructureisastructureofhexagonalcellsofwax,madebybeestostorehoneyandeggs,astructureofadjoiningcavitiesorcells.

HexagonShapeisatwo-dimensionalshapethathas6sides,6verticesand6angles.

Tessellationisanarrangementofshapescloselyfittedtogetherinarepeatedpatternwithoutgapsoroverlapping.

Patterningisarepeatingunitofshapeorform.

Compositionisthewayvisualelementsareorganized,placed,orarrangedinaworkofart.

ARTMAKINGPROCESS:  STEP1:TakeamomentandexaminetheHoneycombimagesbelow(Fig.A).Considertheshape,design,andstructureofthehoneycomb.  

• Whatdoyounoticeaboutthehoneycomb?Doyouseeanyopeningsorspacewithinthestructure?Why?Whydoyouthinkthisisimportant?

STEP2:Createahexagonstencil–beginwithyourpieceofcardstockanddrawroughlya2”-3”hexagonshapeonit(youcanprintacopyofahexagon,cutitoutandtraceitifyou’dlike).Cuttheshapeyou drew out of the cardstock(Fig.1).STEP3:Considerhowyouwillbuildyourhoneycombimageonyoursheetofwhitepaper.Thinkaboutifyouwanttostartinonecorneratthebaseofyourpaperandworkfromlefttoright,orbegininthemiddleofyourpaper,buildingfromtheinsideout.

• Willyourhoneycombgostraightacrossfromsidetoside?Willitbeatanangle?• Howdoesabeebuildhishoneycomb?

STEP4:Begintracingyourhexagonshapewithyourpencil,stackingedgetoedgeasyougo (Fig. C). Fillyourentirepagewithahexagontessellation,somehexagonswillgoofftheedgeofyourpaper.Useyourblackmarkerandgooveryourpencillines,outliningthehexagonshapes.(Fig.2)STEP5:Useyourcoloredmarkerstocolorinyourhoneycombshapes.Youcanchoosetohaveapatternofcolorinyourhoneycomb,orhaveitbesolid(onecolor),orrandom(severaldifferentcolors).Thecolorchoiceisuptoyou (Fig.3).STEP6:Next,noticethedifferentpartsofthebeeandtheshapesinitsbody, considerthe beeproportion, andotherdetails (Fig.D).Thinkaboutthecompositionofyourworkofartandhowmanybeesyouwouldlike tohave.Youcanchoosetohaveonelargebee,orafewsmallbees.Itcanbeasimplelinedrawing,orhavelotsofdetail, itisuptoyou!Thinkaboutwhereyouwillplacetheminyourartwork.STEP7:Design your bee(s): onyoursecond whitepieceofpaper,useapenciltolightlydrawjustthebodyandwingsofyourbee(s)consideringsize,angle andshape.Whenyourbeesarepenciledin,useablackSharpieormarkertooutlinethebeeandadddetailstothebody andwings.Eraseanypencilmarks.Useyourcoloredmarkerstocolorthemin.(Fig.4)STEP8:Cutouteachbeeanduseyourgluesticktosecurethemintoplaceonyourhoneycombbackground.Useyourblack sharpietoaddtheantennaeandlegsifyou’dlike.STEP9:Whenyouarehappywiththelayoutofyourbeesandhowyourartworklooks,yourworkofartiscomplete!(Fig.5)

POSTPROMPTQUESTIONS(reflectandshare):  

1. Whatdoyoulikebestaboutyourartwork?2. Howdoyoulikeworkingwiththestructureoftessellationpatterning?3. Doyoufeelyourartprojectrepresentsabeehive?4. Whatdoyouwantpeopletoknowaboutyourartwork?

ARTPROJECTSTEPBYSTEPEXAMPLE: 

FIG. 1 FIG. 2 FIG. 3

Fig.A–HoneycombImages: 

FIG. 4 FIG. 5

Fig.C–HexagonTessellation:

Fig.D–BeeInformation:

Beesareatypeofinsectthathasthreebodyparts:head,thorax,andabdomen.Therearethreetypesofbeesinabeehive(queen,worker,anddrone)andeachtypeperformsdistincttaskstomaintainthe colony.Beesrepresentenvironmentalprotectionaswellashardwork. 

• Beeshavetwolargecompoundeyesthatallowthemtoseeallaround.Eachcompoundeyeismadeupofmorethan6,000smalllenses,whichareeachlikeaseparateeye.

• Theantennaeontopofabee’sheadhelpitsmell,feel,andtaste.• Themiddlesectionofabee’sbodyiscalledthethorax.Threepairsoflegsandtwopairsofwingsare

attachedtothethorax.• Therearofabee’sbodyiscalledtheabdomen.Femaleworkerbeesproducethewaxusedtobuildthehive

usingthispartoftheirbody.Femalebeeshavestingersattheendoftheirabdomens,whilemalebeesdonot.

• Thequeenisthelargestbeeinthecolonyandistheonlyonethatcanlayeggs.• Workerbees,whichareallfemale,buildthehivewithwaxsecretedintheirabdomens.Workersalsocare

fortheyoungbees,defendthehive,andforageforpollenandnectar.• Dronesaremalebeesthathavethesoletaskofmatingwiththequeen.

Fig.B–HexagonShape