A Possible Research Pathway: Biomechanics studies of just about any critter!

So, if you have taken a physics class, there is a good chance you've come across learning something about springs and elastic forces. It is the right question to ask when we cover something like springs in class: Why should we care? Besides being able to solve some physics problems, what's the point?

A cool application has to do with the size of organisms. Small critters like insects are too small to have muscles the way we do. Instead, they've evolved effectively springs in their legs, which are more linear than muscles, which are multidimensional and, therefore, take up too much space for their body to fit or support. Awesome!

Keep in mind that biomechanical studies are something we can try to do in our research program! One can study any local organisms, from how and why they move the way they do (locomotion), mechanical advantages and efficiencies and relative strengths when they move other objects, ratios of various body parts and why those ratios, and not others, evolved. One may think of this as an engineer would, or from the point of view of finding the basic mechanical and dynamic principles as a pure scientist would ask. Consider using video techniques as the main source of data and observations.

Keep in mind these types of research questions can be applied to any organism of any size, and not just animals or microorganisms...one can ask interesting questions about any type and size plant. What are the relative sizes of arteries in the plants structure compared to the height and other dimensions of the plant, or to the size of its leaves. Be creative and let your mind develop a wide range of possible questions that can be explored!

It may be possible to develop or find some software to design your own organism to see how it might fare in some ecosystem. Think computational biomechanics!

In all cases, one may consider something like ratios and proportions of various body or plant parts over the growth stages of the organism. Do various ratios stay constant through growth, or are there different ratios at different stages of growth? Again, be observant and be creative in the questions you ask and pursue.