Curriculum

2021 - 2022 YDC Curriculum

If you’re new to us, the Youth Design Challenge serves as a bridge from core concepts to advanced project-focused learning for students. We equip learners with the tools they need to solve the world’s pressing problems using the teachings of nature.

Our challenge provides a framework for educators of all types to introduce biomimicry as a lens for exploration and problem solving — within and beyond the classroom. It sparks curiosity and ingenuity in middle and high school students, turning learners into makers.

One of the significant changes this year is that the curriculum will be available to all educators, not only those who have signed up for access to the resources. All educators that are wanting to incorporate biomimicry into their classrooms will now be able to do so without registering. 

Another change is to the MIMIC lessons. We feel the updated lessons have a smoother transition and there are clearer support opportunities throughout. This was done to give educators an easier way to incorporate biomimicry into their classrooms. Each section of the MIMIC framework has been rewritten with the educator and students in mind.

The 2022 challenge will open up the scope to all of the Sustainable Design Goals (SDGs) and let students choose which goal they would like to pursue based on their interest. We wanted to give choices on whether climate change was the most pressing issue in students’ immediate communities or if there were other problems for which they would be more inspired to create solutions. The renewed version of the YDC will allow students to design with all areas of sustainable goals available to them.