What can be worse than spending a day in a too-cold classroom?
Schools are often too cold or too hot for optimal learning. Research suggests that the best results are achieved when the room temperature is 22 degrees Celsius.
A too-hot classroom makes students sleepy, and a too-cold classroom makes them focus on ways to keep warm. Warmer temperatures tend to make you feel tired and lethargic. It is difficult to concentrate, and you easily get distracted.
Inspired by the termites in Zimbabwe that build gigantic mounds inside, in which they farm a fungus that is their primary food source, you can design the perfect classroom that is neither too cold nor too hot.
The fungus must be kept at 30. 5 degrees Celsius. By constantly opening and closing a series of cooling and heating vents, termites manage to keep the fungus alive. The termites dig new vents and plug up old ones to regulate the temperature in the mound. This has inspired architects when they are trying to build the perfect house, at least when it comes to the temperature inside the house.
Why not design the perfect school inspired by termite mounds? Plenty of time to build it before the new term starts in the autumn.
Photo: By Olga Ernst [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], from Wikimedia Commons
Frequently Asked Questions
What is biomimicry?
Biomimicry is the practice of looking to nature for solutions, then applying what we learn to design and problem-solving. Instead of inventing from scratch, it means studying how plants, animals, and ecosystems have already solved a challenge — like staying cool, collecting water, or absorbing carbon — and adapting that strategy for human use.
How does biomimicry help address climate change?
Nature has been adapting to extreme conditions for billions of years, so many organisms already hold working solutions to problems we now face at a larger scale — cooling buildings without electricity (termite mounds), collecting water in drought (the Namib beetle), protecting coastlines from storms (mangrove roots), and capturing carbon (corals, forests, kelp). Biomimicry means studying those solutions and applying the same principles to human design.
How can children get involved in biomimicry?
Children don’t need special training to think like a biomimicrist — just curiosity and a habit of asking “how does nature solve this?” Simple ways to start include a backyard scavenger hunt for nature’s patterns, a “design-an-animal” challenge for a changing climate, or building a small model (like a passive-cooling structure or a water collector) inspired by something they’ve observed outdoors.
Is biomimicry only for scientists and engineers?
No — biomimicry is as much a mindset as a profession. Anyone can practice it by observing nature closely and asking design questions. Professional biomimicry practitioners apply it in architecture, materials science, and engineering, but the same core skill — careful observation followed by “what if we built it that way?” — is exactly what this post’s classroom and family activities are designed to build in children.
Åsa Jomård
In 2015, Åsa completed a course in Biomimicry: A Sustainable Design Methodology at Minneapolis College of Art and Design. With over 10 years of experience exploring nature for inspiration and as a former member of Ben, Biomimicry Education Network, she brings both academic background and creative teaching experience to her work. Her materials seamlessly integrate stories, nature observations, and design challenges, making them perfect for inquiry-led learning in early primary contexts.
AI was used as a Thinking Partner.
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