BirdBeaksLaboratory

Howdoesnaturalselectioncauseevolution?
Name:_____________________
Date:_____________________
Period:______________________

Purpose:Thislabactivitywillhelpyouunderstandhownaturalselection,thedrivingforceofevolution,acts
onapopulation.Apopulationincludesalloftheindividualswithinagivenspecies.Sometimes,anindividualin
apopulationcanbebornwithatraitthathurtshis/herchancesforsurvival.Chancesare,thisindividualwillnot
surviveorreproduce.However,anindividualcanalsobebornwithatraitthatactuallyhelpshim/hersurvive.
Iftheindividualpassesthishelpfultraitalongtoitsoffspring,thetraitmayultimatelybecomemorecommonin
thepopulation.Sometimes,achangeintheenvironmentwhereapopulationlivescanalsocauseachangein
thepopulationitself,someindividualswillbemoresuccessfulatsurvivingandreproducingthanothers.

Today,youandyourclassmatesareallmembersofa
birdspeciescalled,UtensilBirds,orAvesutensilis.

Thinkaboutit:Theretendstobevariationwithinapopulation.Forexample,somehumanshaveblueeyes
andothershavebrownorgreeneyes.Canyouthinkofanothervariationwithinourownhumanspecies?
Utensilbirdsalsoexhibitvariationintheirspecies.Utensilbirdshavebeaksthatlooklikesingletoothpicks,
spoons,forks,orknives.Thesearethe4beakphenotypesinAvesutensilis.Phenotypesarethephysical
expressionsofageneinapopulation.

ProblemStatement:
Whichbeaktypehasthebestfeaturesforcollectingfoodandhelpinganindividualbirdsurviveinachanging
environment?

Letsresearchtheproblem:Naturalselectioncancauseapopulationtochangeovertime,orevolve.For
naturalselectiontooccur,fourbasicconditionsmustexist:
1. Theremustbevariationsintraitsoforganismsinapopulation.
2. Someorganismsdieandwillnotreproduce.
3. Survivalisnotrandom;theoneswhosurviveandreproducehaveanadvantageovertheirfellow
membersofthesamepopulation.Theyhaveanfavorabletrait,atraitthathelpsthemsurvive.
4. ThisadvantageoustraitpossessedbythesurvivorsMUSTbeheritable;itisgeneticallypassedontoits
offspring.

Materials:
1.4utensils(representsbeaktypes).1ofeachmodelforeachlabgroup:toothpicks,plasticforks,spoons,and
knives.
2.Butcherpapertocoverthetables.
3.Twofooditems:hardfood:beans&softfood:raisins
4.Twopapercupsforeachstudent(servesasthemouthofthebird).
5.PhoneTimer(onlyonepersonsphoneshouldbeout)

Directions:
1. Thislabisdesignedfor4memberlabgroups.Astudentwillusethesamebeakthroughoutthe
activity.Eachgroupmemberwillhaveadifferentbeaktype.
 2. Whilefeedingyoumayonlycollectonefooditematatime.Youmustpickuptheitemsandplace
theminyourcup(modelmouth).Youmaynotrakeitemstowardsyourself,norpickthemup
withyourotherhand.Theotherhandshouldbebehindyourback.ONLYUSEONEHAND
WITHYOURUTENSIL.Benicetoyourfellowbirds!!
3. Pleasenominateonegroupmembertorunthestopwatch.

Procedure:
SoftFoodTrials:
1. Yourgroupwillsoftfood(raisins)onthebutcherpaper.
2. Setupthetimerfor10seconds.
3. Whenthetimerstarts,eachmemberwillcollectasmanyitemsaspossiblefromthetable.Collectone
fooditematatime.
4. Whenthetimerrings,youmustputdownyourbeaks.
5. CountandrecordthetotalnumberofitemsthateachbirdcollectedonthedatalogtitledFoodItems
CollectedbyEachBeakType:SoftFoodTrials.
6. Repeatsteps25forasecondandathirdtrialwiththesoftfooditems.MotherNature(yourteacher)
willaddmorefoodifyourunout.
7. Calculatethemeannumberofsoftfooditemscollectedbyeachbird.
8. Shareyourdatawithallyourgroupmates.Makesureeveryonehasthedata.
9. Whendonewithallthreetrials,setthecupsaside.Collectalltheraisinsintoacup.

AChangingEnvironment:
Youandyourfellowbirdsliveonanislandwithplentifulrainfall;thatiswhyyourfooditemsaresoft.
However,aterribledroughtbeginsandthetreesonyourislandbeginproducingmuchharderseeds.Youand
yourfellowbirdsmustadapttothischangeintheenvironmentordie.

HardFoodTrials:
1. Yourgroupwillreceivehardfood(beans)onthebutcherpaper.
2. Setupthetimerfor10seconds.
3. Whenthetimerstarts,eachpersonwillcollectasmanyitemsaspossiblefromthetable.
4. Whenthetimerrings,youmustputdownyourbeaks.
5. Countandrecordthetotalnumberofitemsthateachbirdcollectedonthedatalogtitled,FoodItems
CollectedbyEachBeakType:HardFoodTrials.
6. Repeatsteps25forasecondandathirdtrialwithhardfooditems.
7. Calculatethemeannumberofsoftfooditemscollectedbyeachbird.
8. Shareyourdatawithallyourgroupmates.Makesureeveryonehasthedata.
9. Whendonewithallthreetrials,setthecupsaside.Collectallthebeansintoacup.

Aftercollectingyourdata,youwillcomeuptoblackboardtowriteyourdatatocreateaclassdatatable.

Questions:
1.Thefirstbasicconditionfornaturalselectiontooccuristhattheremustbevariabilitywithina
species.Whatvariabilitywaspresentinthepopulationofutensilbirds?

2.Beforetheterribledrought,whichbeaktypesgatheredthemostfooditems?
3.Aftertheterribledrought,whichbeaktypewasmostsuccessful?

4.Overtime,ifdroughtconditionscontinue,whatwillhappentothenumberofbirdswiththespoon
beaksinthepopulation?Whatwillhappentothebirdswiththeotherbeaktypes?

5.Astheindividualsofthespecieschangeovertime,thewholespeciesmaybegintolookvery
different.Itmayevenbecomeacompletelydifferentspecies.Whatisthenameofthisprocesscalled?
 FoodItemsCollectedbyeachBeakType(Phenotype)
SoftFoodTrials
BeakType Meanof
(Phenotype) Trial1 Trial2 Trial3 Trials
13
Toothpick

Spoon

Fork

Knife

FoodItemsCollectedbyeachBeakType(Phenotype)
HardFoodTrials
BeakType Meanof
(Phenotype) Trial1 Trial2 Trial3 Trials
13
Toothpick

Spoon

Fork

Knife

Letstabulatetheclassdata:

MeanFoodItemsCollectedbyeachBeakType(Phenotype)fortheEntireClass
FoodType Toothpick Spoon Fork Knife
Collected
SoftFoodItems

HardFoodItems