Experiment – Modeling Natural Selection

Background:
In any habitat, food is limited and the types of foods available may vary.
Animals that are better adapted to take advantage of available foods
will fare better than those who are less well adapted, and thus live to
pass on their genes to the next generation. Understanding the idea of
adaptive advantage opens the door to understanding populations in
ecosystems as well as the process of evolution.

Purpose:
To determine the effect of beak function on competing for food

Materials:
Per group of 5
1 scissors
1 plastic spoon
1 binder clip
1 tweezers
4 plastic cups
25 rubber bands
1 bag of rice
25 toothpicks
25 paper clips
1 stopwatch
1 table

Procedure:
 1. In your group of five select a demonstrator, they will be
responsible for keeping time, recording data and leading the
experiment
2. The remaining four will select, a spoon, binder clip, scissor or
their hand. These represent your beaks.
3. Place approximately 40 rubber bands on the table. Start your
timer for 2 minutes and begin picking up the rubber bands and
placing them in your plastic cup. Rubber bands represent food
and plastic cup is your stomach.
4. Return your food items and record the number of food you have
collected.
5. Repeat the process with toothpicks, paper clips and rice.

Results:

First hour data:

Rubber Toothpicks Paper clip Pasta
bands
Tweezers
Scissors
Spoons
Binder clips

Make a graph of your groups results on Excel or graph paper provided.

Include it below.
Discussion:
1. Specify what beak you used or select any beak from your
group and explain what you noticed about the beaks
feeding ability.

2. Did everyone with that beak type have the same success
rate with the same foods? Why or why not?

3. What did you notice about your behaviour and the

behaviour of others in your group?

4. What would be your strategy if all food types were

available?
5. What would happen if all the bird beak types flew to an
island where no birds had been before and the only food
available were paper clips. Which bird beak type would
be most likely to be successful? Explain your answer.