Post on 04-Jan-2016
HAPPY WEDNESDAY • Turn in Homework (Cosmos Video Worksheet)• Give me back your Project Handout.• Bellwork: Quickwrite – Use the following in a 42 word
quickwrite explaining what you have learned about Evolution so far.
EvolutionAdaptation
FitnessNatural Selection
DarwinSurvival
Reproduction
Front
Back
VocabularyWord
Definition of the word.
A drawing that reminds you of the definition of the word. (Must use at
least one color.)
Evolution NotecardsPeriods 4 and 5
Due Tuesday (1/13/15)
• Adaptation• Charles
Darwin• Evolution• Fitness• Gene Pool
• Natural Selection
• Population• Speciation• Species
Evolution: Bean Lab• The purpose of this lab is to understand evolution by
simulating the competition of different birds for a common food source.
• Each student will simulate different beak shapes (fingers, spoon, knife, and fork).
• In Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, he stated that individuals best suited for a specific habitat will survive and pass their favorite traits on to their offspring.
• In this lab, students that obtain the most food will pass their beak shape to the next generation, while the students with the least amount of food will go extinct.
Problem: Which bird beak is the most successful at catching prey in a certain environment?
Hypothesis: Write a hypothesis predicting which type of beak (fingers, spoon, knife, or fork) will be the most successful in collecting food.
If the beak type is a _____________, then __________________________.
Procedure:• Students will be divided into groups of 4. Each student represents a
different bird species with different shaped beaks. For the first trial, one student will represent each beak shape: fork, spoon, knife, and fingers.
• Spread the beans provided on the paper towels in front of you. The beans represent seeds which are the birds’ food.
• For thirty seconds, each bird removes beans, one at a time, from the paper towel using only their beak (fingers, fork, spoon, or knife). A couple things that must happen:– The box must remain still in the middle of the table– The food must be picked up and placed in your stomach (cup)– The stomach (cup) must remain on the table– You cannot steal from the competition
• After 30 seconds, count the number of beans each species has eaten. Record the data in the data table.
• The bird with the least amount of beans goes extinct. That bird must change its beak shape to the one who ate the most beans.
• Repeat this process two more times.
Student Name:Trial 1 Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 2 Trial 3 Trial 3 Final
Beak shape # of beans
Beak shape
# of beans
Beak shape
# of beans
Beak shape
Jessica Fingers 25 Fingers 25 Spoon 35 Fork
Tom Spoon 50 Spoon 51 Spoon 38 Spoon
Derrick Fork 46 Fork 41 Fork 46 Fork
Lisa Knife 4 Spoon 55 Spoon 42 Spoon
Summary of Darwin’s Theory: Individual organisms differ and some of these variations are
heritable (passed on) Organisms produce more offspring than can survive and
many that do survive do not reproduce Because more organisms are produce than can survive, they
must compete for limited resources (food, shelter, etc) Each unique organism has different advantages (good) and
disadvantages (bad) Individuals best suited to their environment survive and
reproduce successfully These organisms that survive pass their heritable traits to
their offspring
Summary of Darwin’s Theory cont’d: Other individuals that are not suited for their
environment die or leave few offspring This process called natural selection causes species
to change over time Species alive today are descended with modification
from ancestral species (their ancestors) This process by which diverse species evolved from
a common ancestor unites all organisms on Earth into a single tree of life
Examples of natural selection
Bunny Simulation
If only one species is considered the "fittest", why do we still have so many variations among species. Why do some birds have very long pointy beaks, while other birds have short flat beaks?