Classroom Questions

Questions for ‘Ripple bugs’ frilly feet inspired a water-striding robot’ 

A closeup of a ripple bug on top of the water shows fan structures on its feet below the surface.

A water strider known as a ripple bug has frilly fans on its feet. Those fans help it dart and turn atop turbulent rivers.

Víctor Ortega Jiménez

By Science News Explores

To accompany ‘Ripple bugs’ frilly feet inspired a water-striding robot’

SCIENCE

Before Reading:

  1. Imagine an insect striding across the surface of a pond. To the best of your understanding, how do you think an insect might walk across the water’s surface without sinking? (The answer need not be accurate. Just speculate based on what you know.)
  2. Inspired by how burrs stick to animals’ fur, researchers invented Velcro. Engineers applied the burr’s hook-and-loop structure to their invention. One side of a Velcro patch (the hook side) sticks to the second side (the loop side). Think about animals or plants with interesting and unusual traits. Describe one that comes to mind. Then, discuss how this special ability might inspire an invention if scientists better understood how nature achieves this. What types of problems might such a nature-inspired invention solve?

During Reading:

  1. What is the scientific name for the ripple bug?
  2. Describe how the ripples bug’s feet change when it touches water.
  3. What is the name of the “force” that brings about this change in the bug’s feet?
  4. Imagine a cat that is 0.5 meter (20 inches) long. If it moved at the ripple bug’s estimated rate of speed (as described in this story), approximately how far could the cat move in 1 second?
  5. Describe what is happening when the bugs’ feet touch the water as opposed to when they leave the water.
  6. What aspect of the new robot is inspired by the ripple bug?
  7. Give one example of a potential application for a robot with those feet, according to Ortega Jiménez.

After Reading:

  1. An analogy is a comparison between two things that helps explain an unfamiliar concept by connecting it to a familiar one. For example, an analogy can help someone envision how something unfamiliar works by comparing it to a process they have seen or understand. Find one example of an analogy from this story. How did this analogy help explain the concept for you? What concept or process, that to some would be unfamiliar, does this analogy seek to clarify?
  2. Refer to your answer for Question 2 in Before Reading. When nature inspires invention, researchers refer to this as biomimicry. How is the technology described in this story an example of biomimicry? Explain your answer.