Bird Beak Lab

Who will survive?

Problem?How did the finches on the Galapagos Islands all end up with different shaped

beaks?

Problem?• Which bird beak is best suited for eating

worms?______________

• Which bird beak is best suited for eating bugs? ______________

• Which bird beak is best suited for eating fruit? ______________

• Which bird beak is best suited for eating seeds? _____________

Hypothesis

FINISH THE STATEMENT BELOW.

If the finches on each island all have different beak shapes, then they got that

way because…

Skip a few lines to add more information in a minute!

Materials

• Clamps• Forceps• Probes• Spoons• Fish• Crawlers• Pretzels• Skittles

• Paper Plate• Cups• Calculator• Time keeper• Tray/Box

Procedure

1. Choose a beak type from the tray given in your group. Use the cup to represent the bird’s stomach. Use the utensils appropriately.

2. When the signal is given, you will have 15 seconds to try to put as much food as possible into the bird’s stomach. PUT ONLY ONE FOOD ITEM AT A TIME. DO NOT USE YOUR HANDS TO TOUCH THE FOOD!

3. Count and record the amount of food on Data Table I for the beak type.

4. Calculate individual average. 5. Calculate Class average with similar beak types.6. Graph your results. You are graphing the Bird Beak type

and the class averages of food eaten. See sample graph.

Create the data table below on your paper. Record the amount of food eaten by each beak

for trials 1-4.Beak Types

# of Worms(crawlers)

Class Average

# of Bugs(pretzels)

Class Average

# of seeds(skittles)

Class Average

# of fruit(fish)

Class Average

Clamps 1.2.3.4.Average=

1.2.3.4.Average=

1.2.3.4.Average=

1.2.3.4.Average=

Forceps 1.2.3.4.Average=

1.2.3.4.Average=

1.2.3.4.Average=

1.2.3.4.Average=

Chopsticks

1.2.3.4.Average=

1.2.3.4.Average=

1.2.3.4.Average=

1.2.3.4.Average=

Spoon 1.2.3.4.Average=

1.2.3.4.Average=

1.2.3.4.Average=

1.2.3.4.Average=

GraphAdaptation Bird Beak Type Lab

0123456789

10111213141516

Clamps Forceps Chopsticks Spoon

Bird Beak Type

Am

ou

nt

of

Fo

od

Eat

en

Worms

Bugs

Seeds

Fruit

AnalysisBeak Type Food best adapted to

eatCalories eaten with

best food sourceDid it survive with

best food source?Did it reproduce with

best food source?

Clamps

Forceps

Probes

Spoon

Conclusions

• How did variations in bird beak types affect survival of the birds?_______________________ ________________________________________________________________________

• How is this lab an example of evolution by natural selection?____________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________