Adaptations: Beasts and Beans
You have just discovered an island that has been isolated for thousands of years.
On this island, some unique animals have evolved. In order to claim their own niche,
predators have evolved three separate mouth types, the spoon, the fork, and the knife.
These three predators eat prey that look and act remarkably like beans. So far, scientists
have been unable to determine just which bean-critter prey each predator is best adapted
for, ore even which predator is obtaining the most food. You have been sent to determine
these things.
Materials:
Plastic Spoon
Plastic Fork
Plastic Knife
Black Beans
Kidney Beans
Pinto Beans
Peas
There should be 3 - 5 students per table.
1) Place 25 of each type of bean in the center of the table.
2) You have 30 seconds to “eat” as many beans as you can. Beans are eaten by being
picked up off the table with the “predator” and placed in the stomach (plastic cup).
3) At the end of 30 seconds, count how many of each type of bean your predator ate and
record it.
4) Return all beans to the center of the table.
5) Repeat steps 2 through 4 with the other two predators.
Data Table:
Predator
Type
Pinto Beans
Kidney
Beans
Black Beans
Peas
Total
Beans
Eaten
Knife
Fork
Spoon
Questions:
1) Which predator was the most successful? Give Evidence.
2) What “adaptation” of that predator made it the most successful?
3) Which prey was eaten the most often? What adaptation of that prey made it the easiest to
eat?
4) Which prey was the knife predator best adapted to eat? Why?
5) Which prey was the spoon predator best adapted to eat? Why?
6) Which prey was the fork predator best adapted to eat? Why?
Camouflage with M&M’s
We have journeyed to an isolated island where the rare M&M lives in its natural habitat,
the candy corn forest. Because the M&M’s have many predators on the island natural selection
has been a factor in their development. Natural selection is the process in which individuals
that are better adapted to the environment are more likely to survive and reproduce. As a
result, the adapatation of camouflage of the M&M has been instrumental in their survival. An
adaptation is a behavior or physical characteristic that allows the organism to survive in their
environment.
The basic form of the M&M is a hard candy shell coating a chocolate middle and an M
emblazoned on the top. There are, of course, different colors of candy shell now due to
adaptation. The predators that stalk the elusive M&M have very keen eyesight, but have a hard
time finding the M&M in the jungle if the M&M’s stay very still.
The island has recently suffered some habitat destruction due to human pollution. As a
result, some of the candy corn forest is orange, yellow and white, while the polluted side is
brown, orange and white.
As a research scientist, you must collect as many M&M’s as possible from each side of
the jungle to see which have a better chance of survival.
Materials:
M&M’s
Traditional Candy Corn
Brown Candy Corn
Containers
Methods:
1) Students have 30 seconds to collect as many M&M’s as possible (they will be able to see
some colors better than others). They then use this info to graph the data and analyze
which colors are better adapted to each side of the island.
2) They may not pick up the “jungle” and sift through, they must sight the M&M before
they pick it up.
Data Table:
Jungle
Type
Normal
Blue
M&M’s
Red
M&M’s
Yellow
M&M’s
Brown
M&M’s
Orange
M&M’s
Green
M&M’s
Polluted
Questions:
1) Which M&M was caught the most in the normal jungle? Why do you think this
happened?
2) Which M&M was caught the least in the normal jungle? Why do you think this
happened?
3) Which M&M was caught the most in the polluted jungle? Why do you think this
happened?
4) Which M&M was caught the least in the polluted jungle? Why do you think this
happened?
5) What can you conclude about color adaptations?
Natural Selection/Predator and Prey with M&M’s
We have journeyed to an isolated island where 1 species has been able to develop in
geographic isolation. Because the M&M’s compete for resources, natural selection has been a
factor in their development. Natural selection is the process in which individuals that are
better adapted to the environment are more likely to survive and reproduce. As a result, the
general form of the organism (the M&M) has developed several adaptations in order to fill
several unique niches. An adaptation is a behavior or physical characteristic that allows the
organism to survive in their environment. A niche is an organism’s particular role, or how it
makes a living. The basic form of the M&M is a hard candy shell coating a chocolate middle
and an M emblazoned on the top. There are, of course, different substances in the center of the
organism now due to adaptation. There are several predators that stalk the elusive M&M.
Knowing this, you will design your experiment.
Choose an Independent Variable:
M&M type
Predator Type
Circle your Materials:
Predators
 Thimble
 Pinchers
 Small Bowl
 Flat Bowl
 Medium Bowl
 Knob
Choose a Dependent Variable:
M&M survival
Obtaining the most prey




Prey
Milk Chocolate M&M
Peanut M&M
Peanut Butter M&M
Crispy M&M
Plate
Methods:
General:
 Smush M&M with predator and record whether of not it lives. M&M types that
have the most left alive are the most successful. Predators that kill the most prey
are the most successful.
o Uninjured: fully intact
o Injured: 1-50% damaged
o Dead: more than 50% destroyed
 You should have at least 10 M&M’s per type to smush in order to have a proper
sample size.
Data Table:
Independent Variable:
Draw and Name Number of
Your Predator
M&M’s
Type OR
Uninjured
Prey Type
Number of
M&M’s
Injured
Dependent Variable:
Number of
Total Number Survived
M&M’s
(Number Uninjured +
Dead
1/2 the Number Injured)
Questions:
1) Which predator was more successful with your chosen type of M&M OR which
M&M type survived better with your chosen predator?
2) What adaptation do you think allowed your predator / prey to survive better?
3) You began with a population of 8 M&M’s for each type. Assume that for every
two M&M’s that survived, they can each have 1 baby. How many M&M’s are
there for each type of M&M OR after each predator has tried to eat them?
4) According to question 4, did your M&M population increase or decrease?
5) Make a graph of your data.