Bird Beaks Lab
Who will survive?
Objective: I can construct an
explanation based on evidence that
describes how beak shape (trait)
can affect the fitness of a bird.
Instructions
• Create a new Google Doc and share it with
your lab partners.
• Clear off your desk of everything except 1
laptop per groups.
• Follow directions on the following slides to
create your lab report.
Galapagos Islands
Problem?
How did the finches on the Galapagos
Islands all end up with different shaped
beaks?
Hypothesis
FINISH THE STATEMENT BELOW.
If the finches on each island all have different
beak shapes, then they got that way
because…
Skip a few lines to add more information
in a minute!
Create the data table in the Google Doc. Record
the amount of food eaten by each beak for trials 1-4.
Beak Type
Chopsticks
Spoon
Small
Binder Clip
Binder Clip
Trial 1
Trial 2
Marble Pennies
Trial 3 Trial 4
Tooth Rubber
bands
Pick
Hypothesis…
What do you think will happen in each trial?
Which beak will be successful?
Use what you know about natural selection
and survival of the fittest to create your
prediction.
Materials
•
•
•
•
•
•
Tooth Pick
Small Binder Clip
Binder Clip
Spoon
Chopsticks
Pencil
•
•
•
•
•
•
Paper Plate
Cups
Marbles
Popcorn
Pennies
Paper
Procedure
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Select your beak type.
Place plate in center of table.
Wait for “food”.
“Eat” as much as you can in 30 seconds.
Place each item you eat in your cup.
After time, count how much each bird ate.
Record numbers in data table.
Repeat for trials 2-4.
Results
Create a bar graph showing your results for the trial when you ate
the most food.
Amount Eaten
Y
X
Chopsticks
Spoon
Clothes Pin
Tooth Pick
Results
Create a bar graph with FOUR columns showing results for each
trial.
Y
Marbles
Popcorn
Amount of Food Eaten
Rubber bands
Toothpicks
X
Chopsticks
Spoon
Small Binder
Clip
Beak Shape
Binder Clip
Results
Create a bar graph with FOUR columns showing results for each
trial.
Y
Marbles
Popcorn
Amount of Food Eaten
Rubber bands
Toothpicks
X
Chopsticks
Spoon
Small Binder
Clip
Beak Shape
Binder Clip
Conclusions
1. The ____ beak is the best adaptation for this
experiment.
2. My evidence is: (use your graphs and data tables).
3. An adaptation is _____. My evidence supports my
claim that the ______ beak is the best adaptation
because _________________________________
________________________________________
Conclusions
1.
Which type of beak was best adapted to each type of
food? Which beak was least adapted to each type of
food?
2.
What if the popcorn were high-protein beetles that were
4 times more nutritious than any of the other food items?
How would your feeding strategy change?
3. If we came back to the island with toothpicks in 50 years,
what should we expect to see? (What type of birds will
live on the island?) Explain your answer.
4. How are Darwin’s finches an example of natural
selection?