Student Exploration: Rainfall and Bird Beaks GIZMO

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Student Exploration: Rainfall and Bird Beaks Vocabulary: adaptation, beak depth, directional selection, drought, evolution, natural selection, range, stabilizing selection Prior Knowledge Questions... (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.) During the voyage of the HMS Beagle (1831–1836), the young Charles Darwin collected several species of finches from the Galápagos Islands. Two of Darwin’s finches are shown below. 1. Which species do you think is best adapted to a diet of small, delicate seeds? Explain why you think so. ____The Geospiza fortis because of its smaller beak.___________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ 2. Which species do you think is best adapted to a diet of large, tough-to-crack seeds? Explain. _The Geospiza magnirostris because of its larger beak.___________________________________________________ ___ _______________________________________________________ Gizmo Warm-up Darwin’s finches are one of many types of animals on the Galápagos Islands that have unique adaptations, or traits that help an organism survive in its environment. The Rainfall and Bird Beaks Gizmo™ allows you to explore how rainfall influences the range of beak shapes found in a single finch species. 1. The beak depth of a finch is the distance from the top of the beak to the bottom, as shown. A. What is the current average beak depth in the Gizmo? ___9.77_____________________ B. Select the BAR CHART tab. Do all the finches have the same beak depth? ____ no___2. Click Play ( ) and let the simulation play for five years with average rainfall (5 inches/yr). Select the GRAPH tab and view the Finches vs time and Beak depth vs time graphs. A. How does the finch population change? ___It lessens by 600._______________________________ B. Does the beak depth change significantly? ___It decreases by .7 mm.__________________________ [Show More]

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