Name: ________________________________ Per: __________
Darwin’s Finches Investigation
Goal:
To learn about the advantages and disadvantages of variations, that ultimately lead to evolution by natural
selection.
Rules:
You are going to mimic how the variations of Darwin’s finches compete for 5 different types of food sources.
Pretend that the different types of objects (pompoms, beans, toothpicks, pasta) are different types of food for the
birds. Pretend that the different tools are different shaped finch beaks. You will simulate natural selection
happening throughout the trials in this lab. Natural selection (survival of the fittest) occurs when a population
changes in response to their environment.
Materials:
 Bowl to serve as your stomach
 4 types of beaks (clothespin, spoon, tweezers, tongs)
 Food (pomp poms, beans, toothpicks, pasta,)
Hypothesis: Choose one of the following: Spoon, tweezers, scissors, clothespins, toothpick. 5 points
I believe that the ______________ (type of tool) beak adaption will be the fit for eating pom poms.
I believe that the ______________ (type of tool) beak adaption will be the most fit for eating beans
I believe that the ______________ (type of tool) beak adaption will be the most fit for eating toothpicks.
I believe that the ______________ (type of tool) beak adaption will be the most fit for eating pasta.
Trial #1 Pom Poms
Seed Type
# of pom poms eaten
Clothespin
Spoon
Tweezers
Tongs
TOTAL
Trial #2 Beans
Seed Type
# of beans eaten
Clothespin
Spoon
Tweezers
Tongs
TOTAL
Trial #3 Toothpicks
Seed Type
# of toothpicks eaten
Clothespin
Spoon
Tweezers
Tongs
TOTAL
Trial #4 Pasta
Seed Type
# of pasta eaten
Clothespin
Spoon
Tweezers
Tongs
TOTAL
Graphs: Create three separate bar graph clusters to show the average score for each food type. Put the
independent variable on the x-axis. Use a legend and colors to graph all four beak adaptations.
Pom Poms
Beans
Toothpicks
Pasta
Analysis: Refer to your table and bar graphs to answer the following questions.
1. Which finch became extinct in the Pom Pom trials? _____________________________
2. Why did this finch become extinct? __________________________________________________________
3. Which finch was best fit for survival on this “food” type? _____________________________
4. Why was this finch best fit for survival? ______________________________________________________
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5. Which finch became extinct in the Beans trials?_________________________________
6. Why did this finch become extinct? __________________________________________________________
7. Which finch was best fit for survival on this “food” type? _____________________________
8. Why was this finch best fit for survival? ______________________________________________________
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9. Which finch became extinct in Toothpicks trials?________________________________
10. Why did this finch become extinct? __________________________________________________________
11. Which finch was best fit for survival on this “food” type? _____________________________
12. Why was this finch best fit for survival? ______________________________________________________
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13. Which finch became extinct in Pasta trials?________________________________
14. Why did this finch become extinct? __________________________________________________________
15. Which finch was best fit for survival on this “food” type? _____________________________
16. Why was this finch best fit for survival? ______________________________________________________
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By analyzing all of the trials’ collected data:
17. Which finch “beak” performed best over all the trials?________________________________
18. Did this answer match your hypothesis? __________________
19. Why did this finch “beak” perform best? ____________________________________________
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20. Which finch “beak” performed worst over all the trials?______________________________
21. Did this answer match your hypothesis? __________________
22. Why did this finch “beak” perform worst? _________________________________________
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Conclusion: Explain and discuss evolution by natural selection, including how this lab experience and your
DATA modeled it. YOU MUST REFERENCE DATA FROM YOUR ANALYSIS! During the write-up, you
must use EACH of the following terms:
population, environment, competition, fitness, variation, adaptation, and extinction.
following terms:
population, environment, competition, fitness, variation, adaptation, and extinction.
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