Please get in groups of 4-5 & Pick a leader
Leader take a look at all the white baskets with candy and choose 5 candies from
any basket and go back to your group. DO NOT EAT THE CANDY!
Warm-up #
1. Define variety
2. How many different kinds of candy were available for you?
3. Which ones did you pick? Why? (list the traits)
4. Which ones were the least popular ones? Why?
Science Content Standards for California Biology/Life Science: Evolution
7a. & 8a. Understand why and how natural selection acts on the phenotype rather than the genotype of an
organism.
7d. & 8b. Variations within a species increases the likelihood that at least some members of a species will
survive major changes in the environment.
Natural Selection Lab (30 pts/cooperation & 20 pts/questions)
Objectives: understand the concepts of natural selection & adaptations
- to know why natural selection acts on the phenotype rather than the genotype of an organism
Procedure
1. Get into a group of 4-5.
2. Select one person to be the leader. On the back of this handout at the top right corner, leader write
everyone’s name, period, and group # .
3. All members watch each other! If one member gets lost during the activity, everyone will lose points.
4. Leader, assign numbers(1 to 5) for your members.
All number 1s – You are the exotic bird from Asia. Use chopsticks to gather food.
All number 2s – You are the all American bird. Use a spoon to pick up food.
All number 3s – You are the European bird. Use a fork to pick up food.
All number 4s – You are the mutant bird with a rigid beak. Use the plastic knife to pick up food.
5. All leaders- you will watch the other team members closely to see if they obey all rules. Call the teacher if
you observe any one violating the rules.
6. Okay. Let’s go over the rules.
a. NO USING HANDS to pick up candy.
b. Use one hand to use your beak (utensil) & one hand to hold your stomach (plastic bag).
c. You can only pick up one candy at a time.
d. After you pick a candy, you must put it inside the plastic bag (this is your stomach!)
e. No pushing, running, hitting, etc. WATCH out for each other!!!
7. We will spend ONE minute gathering food.
8. Immediately after gathering the food, each member brings the food to the group
9. Answer the following questions bellow. You just need to turn in 1 paper per group.
10. Happy candy hunting!
Now the questions: You may write on this!
Q#1. Leader: Make sure each question and column is completed. Look inside your stomach.
candies do you have?
Member
Number of candies each member has
1. Exotic bird from Asia – chopsticks
2. American bird – spoon
3. European bird – fork
4. Mutant bird – plastic knife
Q#2. Which bird has the most number of candies? Why?
How many
Q#3. What are the colors of candies you see? List them. (Count all your findings as a group.) Leader, gather
all candies and group them by color.
Color of your candy
Count how many each color
List the size ( large->small)
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
Q#4. Which candies are picked the most? Why?
**When you are done, wait for instruction to go back to the classroom and share data and candy!!!
Period ___
Group Members: __________________________
_________________________
__________________________
__________________________
Class Data: Battle of the Finches
Asian bird –
American bird
Groups
chopsticks
– spoon
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Totals
Date: ________________
_________________________
European bird
– fork
Mutant bird –
plastic knife
Graph: With your group enter the data in an excel document and choose the appropriate graph to represent the
class data. Label the X & Y axis, title the graph, & describe the graph.