Morning Starters: Summer 2 - Biomimicry
Did You Know?
The Japanese bullet train was redesigned to copy the shape of a kingfisher’s beak. This helped reduce air resistance and noise, particularly when exiting tunnels. Thanks to this clever design, the train became faster, quieter and more energy-efficient, showing how nature can inspire improvements in technology.
Credit: BBC World Service - 30 Animals That Made Us Smarter
Word Challenge
List some hyphenated adjectives that could describe a bullet train.
Example: energy-efficient, beak-like
Grammar Challenge
Rewrite the sentence below, adding a parenthesis.
The bullet train was redesigned.
Example: The bullet train was redesigned (to improve its speed and efficiency).
Number Challenge
A kingfisher-inspired bullet train has a top speed of 320 kilometres per hour.
If the train travelled at top speed for 3.25 hours, how far did it travel?
Critical Thinking
Which animal do you find most inspiring and why?