Survival of the Fittest Through : Natural Selection

Name : ______Block : _____ Survival of the Fittest Through : Natural Selection

Background : The Marblebills are a species of duck that feed on Seasnails (marbles), due to sexual reproduction a population of Marblebills exhibit slightly different shaped beaks. Some have a spoon-shaped bill, others have a forked-bill while the remainder have a sticked-bill. Every mating season the Marblebills compete for food to ensure that they have enough to raise their young so that they may grow into healthy adults.

Purpose : ______

______

Table of Observations

TRAIT (Phenotype) NEST # # Of Marbles Analysis: 1. Figure out the average number of marbles collected by all members of the species with spooned-bills. ______2. Figure out the average number of marbles collected by all members of the species with forked-bills. ______3. Figure out the average number of marbles collected by all members of the species with the sticked-bills. ______

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

On a separate piece of paper (lab write-up) write down the following title : Survival Of The Fittest :Through Natural Selection – Discussion Questions. Answer the following questions in full sentence answers. 1. Which phenotype was favored during natural selection. 2. Were there any nesting couples that performed well even though they had one of the less desirable phenotypes? If so which nest # (#’s). 3. Suggest some reasons why success was varied even within one phenotype. In other words, how could some sticked-bills be so much better than other sticked-bills, or for that matter why were some spoon-bills be so much better than other spoon-bills, even though they had the same structural adaptation? 4. Although we used marbles, try to think of a couple of food (other) items that could turn the other phenotypes from being unfavored to being more favored. 5. If marbles remain the only food source for this species what will happen to the types of bill adaptations this species has over a substantial period of time. 6. At the beginning of this first harvesting and mating season each phenotype made up approximately 33% of the total population. If ______marbles are needed each season for a nesting couple to survive, what would the approximate percentage of each phenotype be going into the second year? (Take number of Marblebills of that given phenotype that survived divide by the total number of surviving Marblebills). 7. If the quantity of food (marbles) stayed the same from one harvesting/mating season to the next what would happen to the percentages of each Marblebill phenotype after many years (hundreds or thousands) of competition. 8. Assume that Marblebills nest in the upper branches of tall Seamaple trees. If they build their nest out of straw, which phenotype would most likely build the strongest nests, and therefore would provide solid nests that could hold up to the strong sea winds. Describe how this single factor could completely alter the phenotypic ratios worked out in question #7. 9. Given the conditions that all Housecats were diurnal (active during the daylight) and that all cats (hundreds of thousands) were left to live on sandy beaches and fed off of Seagulls. Describe what the new favored “Beachcat” phenotype might look and act like after thousands and thousands of years of Natural Selection.

CONCLUSION - After completing the questions above write the subtitle : Conclusion on your lab write-up, then write a brief conclusion summing up what this lab proved. Survival Of The Fittest : Marble-bill Lab Evaluation

TOTAL = ______/26 Name : ___ Block ____ ( -0.5 for each thing missing) Lab handed in on time : ___ -10% ( - 2.5 marks) if late.

Lab Handout: (Included) Purpose properly written out ______/1 Table of Observations correctly filled in ______/1

Analysis: Correct averages for - Sticked ______- Spooned ______- Forked ______/3 Questions: Did you answer all 9 questions? ____/2 Are all questions answered in well thought out complete sentences. In a manner that indicates what the question was asking? ( #1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9) ____/4.5 Correct Answers for questions : #3 (Mentioned that some used different, more aggressive behaviour, more effort, or used team work etc) _____/2 #6 Sticked % = _____ Spooned % = ______Forked % = ______/1.5 Overall effort on questions : # 8 (Should mention that spoon would be least fit for making nest, forked fairly fit, and sticked most fit- this would drastically change the overall survival rate for each phenotype: Sticked would go up, forked would go down a bit, spoon would go way down) _____/2.5 # 9 (Should have mentioned that new beach cats would have specific structural, behavioural, and physiological adaptations that would help them perfectly fit into their new environment) Ex Sandy Colour, wider feet, longer claws etc. _____/2.5

Total = ____/15 Conclusion: -Did you briefly but accurately state what this lab proved – Did results support or reject purpose/hypothesis? (Did natural selection work when conditions such as overpopulation, limited resources, variation of phenotypes were established?, Which phenotype was - most fit?, 2nd most fit?, and which was least fit? etc) _____/2

Neatness/Spelling (0 1 2 3 4) _____/4 Very Sloppy/Poor Spelling Perfect Job

TOTAL = ______/26 Survival Of The Fittest : Marble-bill Lab Evaluation

TOTAL = ______/26

Name : ___ Block ____ ( -0.5 for each thing missing) Lab handed in on time : ___ -15% ( - 4 marks) if late.

Lab Handout: (Included) Purpose properly written out ______/1 Table of Observations correctly filled in ______/1

Analysis: Correct averages for - Sticked ______- Spooned ______- Forked ______/3 Questions:

Did you answer all 9 questions? ____/2 Are all questions answered in complete sentences? ( #1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9) ____/4.5 Correct Answers for questions ( I will be randomly selecting out a few answers that I will be checking for accuracy and thoroughness : ____/8.5

Total = ____/15

Conclusion: -Did you briefly but accurately state what this lab proved – Did results support or reject purpose/hypothesis?

_____/2

Neatness and Spell-Check ____/4

** If you use this as a guide, and you put in a good effort you should be able to hand in a very good lab and therefore will receive a very good mark. It’s up to you.

DUE DATE : ______