Name:_______________________

Darwin's Utensil Derby

You will be given one of these utensils
● Tweezers
● Hair clip
● Scissors
● Chopsticks
● Scoopula
● A spoon

With your utensil, and only your utensil, you will be given 20 seconds to pick up as much
of the item that is on the plate in the middle of your table as you can and bring it back to
the plate in front of you. If you drop anything on the table or the floor you MUST use your
utensil to pick it up. This means you need to be careful when you are taking something
from the middle. Each table will have a different item on the middle plate, you will see
● Rice
● Rubber bands
● Froot Loops
● Marshmallows
● Cookies
● Plastic Eggs
● Noodles

Based on the information you have been given so far answer the following:

Hypothesize which utensil will pick up rice the best?

Hypothesize which item will be the easiest to pick up with tweezers?

Hypothesize which utensil will collect the most amount of each item?

After you have collected items onto your plate and the time is up you will need to count
how many you have collected and place the value into the chart below. Once you have
 Name:_______________________

been to all items please share your data with other students to collect the values for each
utensil.

Rice Rubber Froot Marshmallows Cookies Gumball Noodles

Bands Loops Eggs

Tweezers

Hair Clip

Chopsticks

Scoopula

Scissors

Spoon

Which of your hypotheses were correct?

Based on your data which utensil was harder to pick up items with and which one was the
easiest?

What idea do you think this activity was trying to mirror or convey?

After a class discussion answer the following questions:

What idea did this activity actually mirror or convey? Describe it in a few sentences.
 Name:_______________________

What did the utensils in this activity stand for? What did the plates in this activity stand
for?

What would have happened to the birds that couldn't eat as good as the others in real life?
Would their traits be passed down, why or why not?

What characteristic do humans have that is close to the function of a beak?

If there was a drought and many plants did not produce seeds, which beaks would be
affected? Why?

What would have happened to the birds that were not as successful as the others in real
life? Would their traits be passed down, why or why not?
 Name:_______________________

Which utensil best represented which beak:

Utensil: Bird Beak Description of what it eats Picture

Type Name:

Cracker Seedeaters like sparrows and

finches have short, thick
nonical bills for cracking seed.

Shredder Birds of prey like hawks and

owls have sharp, curved bills
for tearing meat

Chisel Woodpeckers have bills that

are long and chisel-like for
boring into wood to eat
insects.

Probe Hummingbird bills are long

and slender for probing
flowers for nectar.

Strainer Some ducks have long, flat bills

that strain small plants and
animals from the water.

Spear Birds like herons and

kingfishers have spear-like
bills adapted for fishing

Tweezer Insect eaters like warblers

have thin, pointed bills.

Swiss Army Crows have a multi-purpose

Knife bill that allows them to eat
fruit, seeds, insects, fish and
other animals.