Bird Beak Adaptation Background Hopefully you recall that Darwin was amazed by the variation in the characteristics of plants and animals he encountered on his journey In any habitat food is limited and the type of food available may vary Animals that have variations that enable them to tak ID: 570211
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Slide1
Natural Selection Lab
Bird Beak AdaptationSlide2
Background
Hopefully, you recall that Darwin was amazed by the variation in the characteristics of plants and animals he encountered on his journey. In any habitat, food is limited and the type of food available may vary. Animals that have variations that enable them to take advantage of available foods will be more likely to survive. We call beneficial inherited variations adaptations.
Adaptations
are inherited characteristics that increase an organism’s chance of survival.
Those with the most helpful adaptations will be the most likely to live long enough to pass on their genes to the next generation. This process ensures that beneficial adaptations will continue in future generations, while disadvantageous characteristics will not. Understanding the concept of adaptive advantage is absolutely required for an understanding of how populations exist in ecosystems
as well as the process of evolution.Slide3
Purpose
To learn about the advantages and disadvantages of phenotype variation, by simulating birds with different types of beaks competing for various foods.Slide4
Pre-Lab Questions
Define Evolution.
Define Natural Selection.
What are the four principles of Natural Selection?Slide5
Procedures
Each student will be given a beak “adaptation”
Spoon
Fork
Knife
Clothespin
Each student will also get a “stomach”
Plastic cup
At the teachers directions you will collect your food until the teacher says stop
You will then count your food and record in the data table. Slide6
Hypothesis
Write your hypothesis.
Your hypothesis should state which adaptation will be the best type of beak and why.
Data
Draw 3
tables like the one on the board. Label one Group Data, and one CLASS data and one offspring per generation.
After each round record your qualitative
observations of this activity.Slide7
Class Data
Generation
1
Generation 2
Generation 3
Generation
4
Generation
5
Spoon
Fork
Knife
Clothespin
Offspring Per Generation
Generation
1
Generation 2
Generation 3
Generation
4
Generation
5
Spoon
Fork
Knife
ClothespinSlide8
Feeding
Choose your “beak” (spoon, fork, knife, clothespin)
For 5 rounds you will eat for 20 seconds each round. During that 20 seconds you will collect your food and place it in your stomach.
Stomach must remain on the table!!
Any food you drop gets “away” and goes back into the food supply.
After 20 seconds count your food and record in the data tables
Calculate how many offspring you have by dividing the number of beans you ate by 10. Record this in the data table.
If you ate less than 10 beans record that you had NO offspring that round.Slide9
Graphing the Data
What is the dependent variable? What is the independent variable?
Why is it better to use the class averages from the results for creating a graph and answering the questions, rather than only using your own data?
For this experiment, is it better to use a bar graph or a line graph to display the data?
Create an appropriate graph for the class data for this experiment.Slide10
Example graphSlide11
Analysis Questions
What did you notice about your behavior and the behavior of the other “birds”? Was the behavior of the birds analogous to the behavior of real birds in the wild?
Which beak was best adapted to the food? Which beak was least adapted to the available food?
What do you think will happen in 20 generations?
Obviously, most habitats have more than one food type available. How would your strategy differ if there were only paper clips available as food? If both paper clips and beans were available?
If the paper clips were high-protein beetles that were 4 times more nutritious than the beans, how would your feeding strategy change?
What would happen if all the bird types in this activity flew to an island where no birds had been before and the only food available was
macaroni
. Which birds would be most successful? Which birds would be least successful?
If we came back to the island in question 5 in 50 years, what should we expect to see? (What type of birds will live on the island?)Slide12
Conclusion
How does this lab simulation provide support for the theory of evolution? What did you learn from this lab? Was your hypothesis right or wrong? If it was wrong explain why your think the other “beak” was a better adaptation?