Introduction
Charles Darwin returned from the Galapagos Islands perhaps with more questions than answers. He observed several variations among the finches from different regions found on this island. One drastic feature of variation was that of their beaks. As shown by the “Society for the Study of Evolution” (Jun. 2002) there were many physical attributes in the finches, the research also concluded a verity of genetic morphological diversities.
The geographic isolation of finches on an island combined with the morphological diversities creates an intriguing question. If these finches are isolated from other species, how did such a wide verity of them get there?
Hypothesis
Due to the flat surface area in which the food (sunflower seeds) is on, I believe the chip clip will preform the best. Its shape is well suited to pick up multiple seeds at once while easily remaining flush to the surface of ground (classroom table).
Materials & Methods
Tongs- Metal salad tongs
Clothes Pin- Wooden, standard
Chopsticks – Wooden, standard
Tweezers – Metal, standard
Hair Clips – Plastic, multi-toothed app. 1.5” width
Chip Clips – Plastic, app. 1” width
Binder Clips – Metal, app. ½” width
Using the provided tools (beaks) in addition to a small cup (stomach). Students will pick up as many seeds as possible within an allotted amount of time and collect them in the cup. Seeds can be gathered from any available source. At the end of the time students will count the collected seeds and be ranked from most collected to least. The lowest three participants will forfeit their tools and replace them with the three most successful tools. This exercise will display Darwin’s theory of Natural Selection. The more favorable tools will increase in variation while the less favorable will decrease.
Results
| Control | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 |
| Tongs | +1 | +1 | – | +1 | 11 |
| Clothes Pin | -1 | -1 | – | – | 2 |
| Chopsticks | -2 | -1 | -1 | – | 0 |
| Tweezers | +1 | – | -2 | – | – |
| Hair Clip | – | – | – | -1 | 4 |
| Chip Clip | +1 | +2 | +2 | +2 | 11 |
| Binder Clip | -2 | -1 | -1 | -1 | 0 |
The chip clip showed the most consistent increase in variation. The chopsticks, binder clips, and clothespin rapidly diminished while the hair clip remained mostly consistent.
As predicted the chip clip was the most successful tool in our experiment. I believe this is largely due to the ergonomics of the tool for our human hands. In the final round we were asked to trade our tools with a student. I decided it would be best to trade my chopsticks for the chip clip. I was less successful with the chip clip; as a result the chopsticks were forced in to extinction. This proves that there is a margin of error related to the inherent skill set of each student. Where I am well practiced with chopsticks, another student may have spent their life using a fork in place of chopsticks. There is also no way to know if students may have scooped seeds in to their cups, or picked up multiple seeds at once.
In the field a similar process could be used to determine the capabilities of a species abilities for survival. For example one may be able to prove that an adult squirrel is more capable of gathering a harvest for winter than a field mouse. Or more related to our project, we could look the shape of beaks and which environments and food sources they are adapted to.
The scientific method does more than just answer a question; it collects data to prove the answer. This method is used in any field of science. The beautiful thing about it is that, as we learn more we are able to continue to reinforce or reject existing theories. The human genome project is a perfect example of technological advances being utilized to physically show what was theoretically believed. In this activity we were able to form a hypothesis and gather information to help form a better conclusion. Our experiment (on a very small scale) shows an example of Darwin’s theory of evolution by Natural Selection. To follow Darwin’s assumptions we showed that 1) Variation already existed by way of the assigned tools. 2) Variation was found to be favorable, unfavorable, and neutral (tongs, chopsticks, and binder clips. 3) Variation is inherited, by way of trading low scoring tools for high scoring tools. 4) More offspring are produced than can survive, assuming more tongs means more food consumption with limited food resources… If favorable variations are preserved and unfavorable variation diminished then the result would form a new species. Or in our case, the favorable trait carries on while the less favorable traits are removed. As the experiment went on the more adequate tools increased in numbers while the less efficient became “extinct”.
Evolution is still occurring today, in each of us (humans) and most likely in every living thing. It happens slowly, over thousands and millions of years. Although we might not see it happening, it is. People are being born with fused kidneys, no wisdom teeth and, although we still have our appendix, we don’t use it anymore. Our bodies once used the appendix as a toxin filter, I would not be surprised to learn that humans no longer had this organ a thousand years from now. Dr. Futuyama, in an interview with Action Bio Science that our cells are still evolving today. Viruses are becoming resistant to antibiotics and evolving in to super virus and HIV has also developed resistance to medications used to treat it. Although this may seem more negative, Dr. Futuyama is pointing out that our bodies are capable of evolving within a short period of time.
Reflection- End of semester.
Looking back at this reminds me that grasping the concept of the scientific method is merely the beginning of the search for knowledge. The truly wonderful thing about the science community is that disagreements provide encouragement for further research in order to prove/disprove information. There are plenty of disagreements, and even feuds. I’m still trying to decide if I’m a lumper or a splitter, though I do believe in evolution I don’t know that I understand just how it all happened. The more information I find, the more answers are revealed and arguments form for either side. In looking at Tarsiers taxonomy I learned about the complications of taxonomy. The debate of Regional Continuity vs. Replacement is a key example of the scientific method at work. Due to all of our labs looking at skulls, I can safely say I could identify many primates, premodern humans, and maybe even have some clues in to the lives they lived. I sill have a lot of questions about evolution, and primates. Luckily there is no lack of material for me to research. I am glad to have had the opportunity to dive in to different fact based opinions from the scientific community to help aide my own many questions.
Work cited –
Kevin J. Burns, Shannon J. Hackett and Nedra K. Klein
Evolution
Vol. 56, No. 6 (Jun., 2002), pp. 1240-1252
Terrell H. Hamilton and Ira Rubinoff
Evolution
Vol. 17, No. 4 (Dec., 1963), pp. 388-403 (389 paragraph 3)
Natural Selection: How Evolution Works. Futuyma, Douglas. Actionbioscience.org, 2004: Web search 2015, section 7.
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