While watching a heron fly, a worm burrow or even a tree bend in a strong wind, many questions arise about the materials and mechanisms of organismal movement.Understanding how organisms are built and how they move is important not only to studies of basic biology and evolution, but also to the design of biologically-inspired products.In this wide-ranging course, we will examine the fundamentals of movement and materials from single-celled wigglers to multi-legged runners and place them in the context of both evolutionary history and engineering design.The goal of the course is to open new windows into understanding our moving and flexing biological world and to show the fundamental links between organismal biology, physics, evolution and engineering.

Fulfills biology core requirement area(s):

Evolution and Biodiversity

Fulfills plant requirement for biology majors?

No

Fulfills lab requirement for biology majors?

No

Fulfills general education requirement for non-biology majors?

No