Biology - HOT Science Lab

Teacher
depth Were these wet years or dry years 1977, 1980, 1982. All three
years were dry years.
During
activity:
1. Depending the types of tools and ―food‖ items being used, have
students form a hypothesis to identify the tools they think would be the
best in picking up the ―food‖ items.
What the teacher will do:
a. Not every student will participate in the simulation for each round. If the
student is not participating in the simulation for a round, they must still
collect the data and share it with those who did participate.
b. Do a trial run of 1 minute for the first round to get an idea of how long the
class takes to get their food to the nest. Adjust according depending on
class times. Start round 1 with one student per beak type.
c. If using soft food items, the students are allowed to stab the food items with
their utensil ―beaks‖.
d. Have students who are not participating keep records of survival and
reproduction.
e. Round 2-3 should include the students who ―survived‖ in round 1 and add
more students depending on how much food they got from the first round.
For example, 6 = 1 offspring; 12 = 3 offspring; 18 = 4 offspring.
f. To calculate frequency of variation, use formula provided.
After
activity:
g. Before you begin rounds 4-6, switch the food items to correlate with hard
dry season foods. Perform the procedures the same way for the first 3
rounds.
h. Have students record and calculate data from the tables given.
What the teacher will do:
a. Discuss student results. Expected results were as follows: In the wet
season when softer foods are used, the students using forks and knives will
―survive.‖ However, in the dry season, when they cannot stab the foods,
they do not fare as well.
b. Review the following questions:
1. Was there one beak phenotype that was more successful than another
in round 1-3 If so, which one Answers vary depending what kind of
food items was being used. However, they will mostly like answer that
the knife or fork variations were the most successful since they were
able to stab the several food items with the tools ―beaks‖.
2. On the same x- and y-axes, plot three line graphs representing the
Biology HSL Page 74
Curriculum and Instruction