Kaycee Gillespie

Anthropology 1020-003
September 25 2015
ePortfolio Signature Assignment

Natural Selection Activity

Introduction: This activity demonstrates natural selection and relates to the study of
Charles Darwin and his study of the Galapagosfinches.Darwindiscovered13variations
offinchesthatvariedfromtheGalapagosIslandsthatallevolvedfromonespecies.His
studyofthedifferenttypesoffincheshelpedhimtodevelophistheoryofnatural
selection.(Jurmain,Kilgore,Trevathan2013)
However,eventhoughitisclearthattheGalapagosfinchesdidgothroughan
evolutionarychangeofsomekind,thefinchesarestilltothisdayevolving.Amore
recentstudyconductedover30 years of two populations of finches shows a change in
their body size and beaks that could not have been predicted as the outcome in the
beginning of the study. This means that evolutionary studies must be done over a long
period of time. (sciencemag.org/content/296/5568/707.short)
Thisactivityisademonstrationofnaturalselectioninrelationtothestudyof
Darwinsfinches,itisanexampleofhowaspeciesgenesadaptoveralongperiodof
timethroughtheiroffspringforsurvivalpurposes.

Hypothesis:Ithinkthatthetweezerswillpickupthemostsunflowerseeds,andI
thinkthatthechopstickswillpickuptheleastamountofsunflowerseeds.
ThereasoningformyhypothesiswasthatIfeltlikethetweezershadthemost
advantagebecauseyouweremoreincontrolwhenpickingupsmallseeds.Iguessedthat
thechopstickshadtheworstadvantagewhenpickingupsunflowerseedsatafastpace
becauseyouarelessincontrolofthegripthatisrequiredforpickingtheseedsup,unless
youareachopstickusingexpert;whichIinferredthatmostoftheclassprobablywasnt.

Materialsused:Inthisclassactivity,todemonstratenaturalselectionwithdifferent
birdbeaktypesweused:tongs,clothespins,chopsticks,tweezers,hairclips,chipclips,
andbinderclips.
Thegoalwastoseehowmanysunflowerseedswecouldpickuponeatatime
usingoneofthedifferenttypesofbeaksandputtingtheminacupallinoneminute.
Afteroneminuteweallcountedhowmanysunflowerseedswewereabletopickup.The
threepeoplewhopickeduptheleastamountofsunflowerseedswiththeirbeakswere
consideredtobedeadbynaturalselection.Thethreepeoplewhopickedupthemost
amountofseedswereconsideredfavorableandpasseddowntheirmoreusefulbeak
traitstotheiroffspring(whichwerethepeoplewhopickeduptheleastamountofseeds).
Thepointwastoplayfiveroundsofpickingupsunflowerseedswithyourgivenbeak,
andfilteringthethreeunfavorablebeaksoutthatlosteachroundandreplacedbya
beakthathadwonthatround.Bytheendofthefifthroundthereisaclearexampleon

hownaturalselectionworks.Onebeakorbeakswillhaveamuchbiggerpopulationthan
someoftheotherbeaks;somepopulationsmighthaveevenbecomeextinct.
NaturalSelectionGameChart
ROUND:

START

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

FIVE

Binder

ChipClips

10

12

11

Tongs

11

Clothespins

Chopsticks

Tweezers

HairClips

Clips

NaturalSelectionResultsGraph

14
12
10

tongs
clothespins

chopsticks
tweezers

hair clips
chip clips

binder clips

2
0
Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Theresultsfromconductingthisexperimentshowthatthechopsticksandthe
binderclipsbothwentextinct.Thetongsandthechipclipsdidequallyasgoodinthe
end,butthechipclipsstartedoffonlyincreasingtheirpopulationrapidlyandthen
suddenlydroppeddownattheend.Whilethetongsslowlyincreasedinpopulationand

thentiedwiththechipclipsonthefifthround.Fromtheseresultsyoucaninferthatthe
clothespinsprobablywouldhavegoneextinctifwewouldhavecontinuedplaying.The
hairclipsandthetweezersarehardertoconcludeon.Theybothendedwitheach
populationatasteadypace;thesetwopopulationscouldgoeitherway.Theycaneither
adaptmoreandincreaseinpopulation,orbecomelessadaptabletotheirenvironmentand
goextinct.

Conclusion:Myhypothesisendedupbeingincorrect.Althoughthetweezersdidnt
becomeextinct,theirpopulationdidnotincreaseonceitdropped,itstayedsteady.The
chopsticksdidbecomeextinct,buttheytechnicallydidntdotheworstbecausethebinder
clipswentextinctfirst.However,thisstudyisnottotallyaccuratebecausethebinder
clipsdidntreallyhavefairshotbecausetheyonlyoriginallystartedwithtwo,whileall
theotherpopulationsstartedwithfive.Also,someotherfactorsthatgointotheresults
aresomepeoplemayhavebeenbetteratusingthedifferenttypesoftoolsthatweneeded
tousetopickupthesunflowerseeds.Forexample,Istartedoffwiththechopsticksand
eventhoughIdidnotdiethefirstround,Idiedthesecondround.Iamnotverytalented
withusingchopsticksandpickinguptinyobjects.Someonewhoisskilledwithusing
chopstickswouldhavebeenabletosurviveinthisgamebetterthanIdid.Ifthis
experimentwouldhavebeenconductedbyanothergroupofpeopletheoutcomemay
havebeenslightlydifferentwithwhichpopulationsurvivedthebest.Idontthinkthatthe
populationthatbecameextinctwouldhavechangedmuchwiththechopsticks.The

binderclipsthoughpossiblycouldhavestayedaliveiftheywouldhavestartedwiththe
samenumberasotherpopulations.

Discussion:Thescientificmethodisastepbystepprocesstotakewhenconducting
anexperiment.Formahypothesis,thentestthehypothesisbycollectingandanalyzing
data.Afteranalyzingthedataandtestingthedataonyourhypothesisyoucanthenform
aconclusionthateitherdisprovesyourhypothesisorprovesit.Formostexperimentsto
beonehundredpercentaccurateitisimportanttotestseveraltimes,andtakeoutside
factorsintoeffectwhencomingtoaconclusion.Manyfieldsofworkusethescientific
methodforavarietyofreasonsasaneverydaytool.Infact,peopleprobablyusethe
scientificmethodintheireverydaylivesmorethantheyrealize.Oneexampleof
fieldworkthatusesthescientificmethodisourstateandlocalroadandhighwayofficials.
Whendrivingonaroadyoumayrunoversomethingthatlookslikeablackhose,orthick
wire.Thisisanexperimentthatthestateorcityisconductingtoseehowmanypeople
diveonthatroadaday,orinanhour,orweek.Theyusethisinformationtoseeifthey
possiblyneedtoaddastoplightonthatroad,oraddanotherlane,ormaybetochangethe
speedlimit.Beforeconductingtheexperimenttoactuallyseehowmanycarsaredriving
downthetestedroad,ithadtohavestartedwithformingahypothesisinregardsto
maintenanceontheroad.
Thisactivitywasagreatdemonstrationofthescientificmethod.Theclassfirst
formedahypothesisonwhichbeakpopulationwouldpickupthemostormore
sunflowerseedsinoneminutethananotherbeakpopulation.Afterformingahypothesis

wewereallgivenoneofthesevenbeaks.Weplayedfiveroundsofthegame,whichis
importanttotesttheexperimentmultipletimes.
Thetheoryofevolutionbynaturalselectionanditsunderliningmeaningisthat
geneticchangeorchangesofcertaintraitsinpopulationsduetofavorableorunfavorable
qualitieswillincreaseordecreaseinfrequencyoveralongperiodoftime.Creatingthe
populationswithfavorabletraitstoincreaseandpopulationswithunfavorabletraitsto
decrease,orbecomeextinct.Thisactivityisagoodrepresentationofhownatural
selectionworks.Itwasverybasic,buthadallthecorerequirementstodemonstratehow
naturalselectionoccurs.Thepopulationthathadthemostfavorablebeakslivedonand
passedthefavorablegenestotheiroffspring.Thepopulationsthathadthemost
unfavorabletraitsdied,andtheneventuallythewholepopulationdiedoffaswell.Thisis
exactly what occurs in real life evolutionary changes. Areas where we see evolutionary
change by natural selection in humans are the use and misuse of antibiotics. The incline
of antibiotics has resulted in an increased resistance to antibiotics in our population. The
more people that abuse antibiotics and reproduce will create offspring that will be born
unsusceptible to antibiotics. (darwinwasright.org/natural_selection.html)

References
www.Darwinwasright.org/natural_selection.html
Human Origins Evolution and Diversity
www.Sciencemag.org/content/296/5568/707.short