Laboratory Activity

Name: ______

Laboratory Activity

You will be performing 2 activities today to investigate how evolution occurs. In both activities you will be simulating being a wading BIRD! These birds seek out shallow water in search of food. They will be our predator in our ecosystem.

Materials (Activity A) Container ½ filled with water Popsicle sticks or chopsticks (Makeshift beak) Colored gems (food item)

Activity A During this activity we will investigate how predators influence prey populations over time. Work in teams of 4 to perform each predator prey simulation. A container with water will be the habitat you will be “fishing” in. Chose one person in your group to be the predator (Wading Bird). This person must use Popsicle sticks as a beak to “eat” the prey items available. Different colored gems in the water will represent the prey population (different fish).

Procedure 1. Have one person dump and spread the prey items in the bottom of the water while the predator turns away. 2. The predator will now hunt and capture as many prey items as possible during a single generation time. In this activity this will be 15 seconds long. 3. The predator must use their beak (popsicle sticks) in order to hunt and capture prey according to these rules: a. Food must be picked up by your bill. Do NOT use the edge of the container to roll the food out. b. Pick up only one piece of food at a time. 4. Once prey is found and successfully removed from the container, place it on a paper towel. 5. When the time is up, count the number of prey on the paper towel and fill out Table 1 appropriately. 6. Each prey item left in the container will produce one offspring (ex. If there are 5 blue gems left in the container, there will be 5 new offspring to add to the population). Add the appropriate number of gems for each prey type to the habitat. 7. Answer the questions after filling in Table 1. Table 1 Prey Type 1 Prey Type 2 Prey Type 3

______A. Number in habitat at start 8 8 8

B. Number on paper towel after hunt C. Number left in container after hunt (A - B) D. New offspring (each survivor has 1 offspring = C) E. Total number in habitat at the start of next generation (C + D)

Questions 1. Looking at Table 1, which color prey item has the largest population at the start of the next generation (Row E)?

2. Why do you think this prey color is the largest of the population?

3. Predict what will continue happen to each prey type (color) over time.

Prey Type 1 ______-

Prey Type 2 ______-

Prey Type 3 ______-

8. Chose a different person to simulate being a wading bird in your group. 9. Perform a hunt of this “Second Generation”, record your results in Table 2. Add the appropriate number of new prey to the habitat. 10. Answer the questions following Table 2. Table 2 Prey Type 1 Prey Type 2 Prey Type 3

______F. Number in habitat at start

G. Number on paper towel after hunt H. Number left in container after hunt (F - G) I. New offspring (each survivor has 1 offspring = H) J. Total number in habitat at the start of next generation (H + I)

Questions 1. Looking at Table 2, which color prey item has the largest population at the start of the next generation (Row J) Why do you think this prey color is the largest of the population?

2. Predict what will continue happen to each prey type (color) over time.

Prey Type 1 ______-

Prey Type 2 ______-

Prey Type 3 ______-

11. Perform a hunt of the third generation (Row J) with a different person as the predator. Record the results in Table 3 and answer the questions that follow. Table 3 Prey Type 1 Prey Type 2 Prey Type 3

______K. Number in habitat at start

L. Number on paper towel after hunt M. Number left in container after hunt (K - L) N. New offspring (each survivor has 1 offspring = M) O. Total number in habitat at the start of next generation (M + N)

Questions 1. Compare the population of prey items at the end of the first simulation (Row E) to the population of prey items at the end of the third simulation (Row O). Did the population change over time?

2. Was one prey item eaten more often than another? Why?

3. How do you think the habitat influenced the survival of the different prey items?

4. Do you think humans can affect the environment to shift gene frequencies of populations over time? How?

Lab Activity B Now we know how predators influence different types of prey items over many generations. We are going to investigate the how the birds interact with each other! During this simulation each student will be acting like a wading bird. Materials Container ½ filled with water 3 different length Popsicle sticks or chopsticks (Makeshift beak) Colored gems (Sinking food item) Small pompoms (floating food items)

Procedure 1. Work in groups of 4. Each person will select an average size beak to do the simulation. 2. You must have 20 floating food items and 20 sinking food items within your habitat (container filled with water). Practice using 3. Everyone will feed together for 20 seconds according to the following rules a. Food must be picked up by your bill. Do NOT use the edge of the container to roll the food out. b. Pick up only one piece of food at a time. c. NO PART of your hand can enter the water while you are fishing. If it does you must put the food item back. 4. Each person will collect his/her food items on their own paper towel. At the of the round, record the number of pieces of food eaten by each student in Table 1.

Table 1 Bird Name Total # of food items

5. To simulate offspring being born (the next generation of birds), each student should roll two dice. a. If you roll any number BESIDES 7, your offspring will have the same bill type as you. b. If you roll a 7, your offspring will carry a mutation for bill length.  Now, roll a SINGLE die to determine the type of mutation:  If you roll a 1 or 2, the mutation results in no change in bill length  If you roll a 3,4,5,or 6 the mutation results in a longer bill. Pick up a longer bill and practice with it a few times before the next round. 6. Do 2 more feeding rounds using the rules above and record your data in Table 2 and Table 3. Repeat the process for determining the traits of your offspring between each round.

Table 2 Bird Beak Length Total # of food items

Table 3 Bird Beak Length Total # of food items Questions

1. Did the number of long bills increase over time during these simulations? How?

2. Which beak length was the best at eating the floating food? Which beak length was best at eating the food off the bottom of the container? Why?

3. Why was it important to roll a dice to determine whether a mutation occurred? How might this compare to how mutations actually occur in real life population?

4. Would you say that if mutations occur from one generation to the next (in one population) that the traits of the organism will change over time? Yes or no? Why?