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    Beak of The Finch Activity

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    api-309363754
    1) The document summarizes an activity where students are assigned different tools representing bird beaks to collect different types of foods within 30 seconds. The goal is to demonstrate how variations in beak shape influence a bird's ability to obtain different food sources. 2) Data is collected on the amounts of different foods each tool/beak shape is able to obtain. Students then answer questions about which tool collects the most of certain foods, how the tools represent beak adaptations, and how changes in the environment could impact bird populations with different beak shapes. 3) The activity aims to show how adaptive radiation through divergent beak evolution could have allowed multiple finch species to coexist by reducing competition for foods on

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    Beak of The Finch Activity

    Uploaded by

    api-309363754
    296 views3 pages
    1) The document summarizes an activity where students are assigned different tools representing bird beaks to collect different types of foods within 30 seconds. The goal is to demonstrate how variations in beak shape influence a bird's ability to obtain different food sources. 2) Data is collected on the amounts of different foods each tool/beak shape is able to obtain. Students then answer questions about which tool collects the most of certain foods, how the tools represent beak adaptations, and how changes in the environment could impact bird populations with different beak shapes. 3) The activity aims to show how adaptive radiation through divergent beak evolution could have allowed multiple finch species to coexist by reducing competition for foods on

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    1) The document summarizes an activity where students are assigned different tools representing bird beaks to collect different types of foods within 30 seconds. The goal is to demonstrate how variations in beak shape influence a bird's ability to obtain different food sources. 2) Data is collected on the amounts of different foods each tool/beak shape is able to obtain. Students then answer questions about which tool collects the most of certain foods, how the tools represent beak adaptations, and how changes in the environment could impact bird populations with different beak shapes. 3) The activity aims to show how adaptive radiation through divergent beak evolution could have allowed multiple finch species to coexist by reducing competition for foods on

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    296 views3 pages

    Beak of The Finch Activity

    Uploaded by

    api-309363754
    1) The document summarizes an activity where students are assigned different tools representing bird beaks to collect different types of foods within 30 seconds. The goal is to demonstrate how variations in beak shape influence a bird's ability to obtain different food sources. 2) Data is collected on the amounts of different foods each tool/beak shape is able to obtain. Students then answer questions about which tool collects the most of certain foods, how the tools represent beak adaptations, and how changes in the environment could impact bird populations with different beak shapes. 3) The activity aims to show how adaptive radiation through divergent beak evolution could have allowed multiple finch species to coexist by reducing competition for foods on

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
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    The passage discusses how bird beaks on the Galapagos Islands evolved through adaptive radiation to effectively collect different food sources. Slight variations in the calmodulin gene resulted in different beak shapes that helped different species survive by accessing different foods.

    The spoon was best at collecting seeds like sesame seeds, while the tweezers were best at collecting small foods like poppy seeds or goldfish crackers. Different tools mimicked beak shapes that allowed birds to obtain certain foods more easily.

    The different tools represent how variations in beak shape through evolution allowed birds to develop specialized beak adaptations for collecting certain types of foods. Narrow beaks could pick up small seeds more easily while wide beaks could collect larger piles of seeds.

    Name: _______________________________________________________ Period: ______

    Beak of the Finch Activity


    On the Galapagos Islands today, there are 13 species of closely related finches. The birds are all about the same size (10–
    20 cm). The most important differences between species are in the size and shape of their beaks, and the beaks are
    highly adapted to different food sources. The birds are all brownish or black. Their behavior differs, and they have
    different song melodies. The current belief by scientists is that one species of finch arrived on the islands and evolved to
    fill the many niches that were not being filled by other birds. One species evolving to fill many different niches is an
    example of adaptive radiation.

    In August 2006 in the Journal Nature, a group led by


    Harvard biologist Clif Tabin showed that the beak
    shapes of Darwin's finches are due to slightly
    different timing and spatial expressions of a gene
    called calmodulin. Calmodulin is used by the
    developing embryo to help lay down skeletal features
    (including the beak) and using microarray data and
    early embryo staining from each of the species, this
    groups could show how the different beak shapes
    were obtained. His article does not explain how
    adaptive radiation may have changed calmodulin
    expression, only that this was the way that the beak
    changes were reached.

    Today you are going to participate in an activity designed to demonstrate how different adaptations help different birds
    in collecting different types of food. You will be given a tool used to represent a bird beak and will be asked to collect as
    much “food” as you can in a 30 second period. Then you will compare what how “birds” with different “beak
    adaptations” are better at collecting different types of seeds.
    Data – Amounts of food collected by different tools
    You will use your randomly assigned tool to collect different types of food in 30 seconds. Use only your tool as you
    would if it were a beak to get the food between plates. Be respectful of materials.

    Spoon Fork Knife Tweezers Chopstick Straws Scissors Clip

    M&Ms

    Goldfish

    Garbanzo
    beans

    Popcorn

    Oreo

    Macaroni

    Spaghetti

    Sesame
    Seeds

    Cheez its
    Questions:
    1) Which tool collected the most seeds on average?

    2) What type of food was it best at collecting?

    3) How do these different tools represent different adaptations?

    4) For the bird that was the worst at collecting, what seed did it collect the most of?

    5) If the environment changed such that the seed from #4 was the most abundant, what do you think would
    happen to the population of that bird?

    6) Does having a different shape beak (different tools) help reduce competition between the birds searching for
    food? Explain why or why not.

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