Darwins Finches

Darwins Finches
Lab Report by Joshua Ray
Anthropology 1020 - Human Origins
Salt Lake Community College

Darwins Finches

1. Title: Darwins Finches Activity Lab

2. Introduction: In September of 1835, Charles Darwin stepped onto the shores of the
Galapagos Islands. Little did he know he was about to change the history with the
knowledge that he gained there. He began to gather and collect specimens of the local
species of animals and plants, among these being a variety of small birds. At the time
Darwin did not realize the birds significance and did not create a detailed record of the
birds. It wasnt until he was back in London that he realized all of the birds were
different. All of the birds had beaks varying in size and shape. This realization started
Darwin on the road to create his theory of natural selection. Years later Darwin wrote,
Seeing this gradation and diversity of structure in one small, intimately related group of
birds, one might fancy that, from an original paucity of birds in this archipelago, one
species has been taken and modified for different ends (Grant, 2003). In modern day
language, the striking resemblance of the birds and close environment they live in
suggests that they share a common ancestor. This led Darwin to create his theory of
evolution by natural selection. Natural selection requires three things, elemental criteria
that, it turns out, exist in every population. First, there has to be variety between
individuals. In other words, individuals cant be identical in every way. Second, the
variability must be able to be inherited. In other words, a genetic basis must underlie
some of the variability and differences must be able to pass from parent to offspring.
Third, the environment in which organisms live and reproduce has to contain a finite
amount of critically important resources. In other words, organisms must be limited in
their ability to reproduce because some resources are in short supply (Zimmerman, 2012).
3. Materials and Methods: The theory of evolution by natural selection basically revolves
around the concept that living things with traits that increase the chance of their survival,

Darwins Finches

also known as favorable traits, are the traits that get passes on to the offspring and
become more common within a population Unfavorable traits, traits that lessen the
chance of survival, become less common within a population. In the project conducted to
show how favorable traits are passed on. My class and I all sat at desks and were given a
beak and a stomach. The beaks we were given were in the forms of tongs, tweezers,
chopsticks, hairclips, clothes pins, chip-clips and binder-clips. Out stomach was a small
paper cup. Sunflower seeds were than sprinkled across the tables. The goal was to use the
beak you were given to get as many sunflower seeds into the cup as you could in a certain
amount of time. We started with five people each having one beak type. The three people
with the least amount of seeds at the end of each round would lose their beak and would
gain a beak matching one that was held by one of the three people who had the most
seeds. This was to happen five times. My initial hypothesis was that the tongs would
become most dominant while the chopsticks would completely die out.

4. Results:
Darwins Finches Activity Lab
Tongs

Darwins Finches

Clothes Pin
Chopsticks
Tweezers
Hairclip
Chip-clip
Binder Clip

5
5
5
5
5
5

6
2
6
5
5
3

10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0

6
1
7
5
5
2

7
1
6
5
3
2

9
1
6
5
3
1

9
1
5
5
3
1

Tongs
Clothes Pins
Chopsticks
Tweezers
Hairclips
Chip-clips
Binder clips

The chart above shows all of the types of beaks starting with the same number of people
who had each beak. The tongs rise gradually, drop by one for a single round, and then rise again.
The clothes pins rise the first round remain constant the second, rise again in the third and fourth
round, and then remain the same the last round. The chopsticks fall quickly the first round and
fall to one in the second round and remains there for the rest of the rounds. The tweezers rise in
numbers the first two rounds, drop the third, remain the same during the fourth and fall the fifth.
The hairclips remain at five through every round. The chip-clips remain at five for the first two
rounds then drop to three during the third and fourth round and then drop to one during the fifth.
The binder clips fall to three the first round, drop to two the second round, drop to one the fourth
round where they finish in the fifth.
5. Conclusion: As the data shows my original hypothesis was proven wrong. The tongs did
not become most dominant, being tied with clothes pins with nine people each, and the

Darwins Finches

chopsticks did not die out ending with one person. Possible causes for error are ones
ability to operate the beak which they are given. If a person does not know how to use
chopsticks they begin at a far greater disadvantage than they already do. Replication of
this experiment may yield very different results depending on the users of the beaks
given.
6. Discussion: The scientific method begins with a question. You then do background
research to learn a bit about the topic of the question. You then formulate a hypothesis as
to what the answer to your question may be. Then you do some actual testing. You are
then able to analyze the data and come up with a conclusion. Using the conclusion you
then compare it to your original hypothesis, which rarely match, but when they do you
then share your results so they can be tested by someone else. This activity demonstrated
the theory of evolution by natural selection in the way that those who had beaks that were
able to gather the most seeds passed on that beak to offspring and those favorable beaks
became more common within the population.

7. References:
Grant, B. R., & Grant, P. R. (2003). What Darwin's Finches Can Teach Us about the
Evolutionary Origin and Regulation of Biodiversity. Bioscience, 53(10), 965975.
Zimmerman, M. (2012). Natural Selection: Constantly Testing. Phi Kappa Phi Forum,
92(3), 15-17.