How Do Species Adapt to Environments Over Time?
Materials (per group)
- one piece of pattern fabric
- 10 vials of paper chips, each of a
different color
- data tables
Procedures
1. Get into groups of four
2. Gather all of the materials listed
3. Spread the piece of fabric over your table. This fabric represents a natural
landscape (pond, forest, cave, etc.)
4. Take 10 “mice” from each of the 10 vials
5. Spread all 100 mice randomly throughout the landscape
6. At the teacher’s signal, begin capturing mice and depositing them into the
nest.
- You may only capture one mouse at a time
- Your group must catch 80 mice total (20 for each owl)
7. Record the number of survivors and the number eaten for each color on the
data table.
8. Collect all of the 20 remaining Survivors. For each survivor, add four new mice
of the same color (ex. If you have 7 red survivors, add 28 more mice).
9. Calculate the population of the new generation on your data table.
10. Repeat steps 5-9 two more times.
11. Record your data on the table provided.
- Use the New Population for each generation
12. Graph your data on the charts provided
13. Answer the Analysis Questions on Page 4
14. Write an explanatory paragraph on Page 5
80
100
Offspring
New
Population
80
100
Offspring
New
Population
80
100
2nd Generation
# of
Survivors
100
Original
Population
20
3rd Generation
# of
Survivors
100
20
Offspring: multiply the number of survivors from each color by 4 (offspring)
20
# of Survivors: amount of survivors after feeding time
FEEDING TIME
New
Population
Original Population: amount of mice at the beginning of the round
Mouse
Color
Brown
Red
Pink
Orange
Yellow
Green
Light Blue
Dark Blue
Black
White
Total
Original
Population
Offspring
FEEDING TIME
Mouse
Color
Brown
Red
Pink
Orange
Yellow
Green
Light Blue
Dark Blue
Black
White
Total
Original
Population
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
100
FEEDING TIME
Mouse
Color
Brown
Red
Pink
Orange
Yellow
Green
Light Blue
Dark Blue
Black
White
Total
1st Generation
# of
Survivors
GENERATIONS OF MICE LINE GRAPH
LEGEND
3
2
1
0
Brown
Red
Pink
Orange
Yellow
Green
Light Blue
Dark Blue
Black
White
Generation
White
Black
Dark Blue
Light Blue
Green
Yellow
Orange
Pink
Red
Brown
3rd GENERATION OF MICE BAR GRAPH
Analysis Questions
1. What is the relationship between the mice and the elf owl?
2. What colors of mice were eaten in the greatest numbers in your habitat?
3. What colors of mice survived in the greatest numbers? How does their color
compare to that of their habitat?
4. Did each color of mouse do equally well in each of the different habitats?
Why or why not?
5. What might happen if the mice were all of the same color at the start?
6. What might happen to the mice populations if they reproduced at an even
higher rate (i.e. each survivor has 9 offspring)?
7. What might happen to the mice populations if predation stopped?
During the 1920s, a population of spotted crabs was known to inhabit the
white sandy beaches near a volcano on one of the Hawaiian Islands. The spotted
crabs were observed to feed off of plants that were cast upon the beaches by ocean
waves. They also noticed that occasionally seagulls were observed capturing and
eating some of the crabs. When first observed, about 90% of the crabs were white
with a few black spots, so they appeared mostly white. Only about 2% of the crabs
had so many black spots that they appeared mostly black.
In 1930, a volcano erupted, sending lava flow across the beach out into the
water. The lava cooled and blocked the ocean currents that had deposited the white
sands on the beach. Instead, black sands from other currents began to accumulate
on the beach until, within a few years, the beach had become completely covered
with black sand.
By the 1950s, nearly 95% of the spotted crab population was composed of
crabs that were nearly black. Only about 1% of the crabs were white with a few
spots.
In a descriptive paragraph (7-9 complete sentences), describe what
caused the spotted crab population to change over time. How does this
relate to the model we created with the mice activity?