Transcript Evolving Beaks - Central Middle School

Activity 9: Evolving
Beaks
Ms. Twardowski
Science
8 Tan
Who is Charles Darwin?

Charles Robert
Darwin (12 February
1809 – 19 April 1882)
was an English
naturalist who said
that all species of life
have descended over
time from common
ancestors, and
proposed the scientific
theory that this
pattern of evolution
resulted from a
process that he called
natural selection.
Natural Selection
 Natural
Selection is the process by
which traits become ‘more’ or ‘less’
common in a population due to what
is needed for survival and
reproduction.
The HMS Beagle

In September, 1835,
Charles Darwin
started on a five-year
journey on the ship
“The Beagle”. His job
was to study wildlife.
His observation of
finches on the
Galapagos Islands led
him to develop the
Theory of Evolution.
Galapagos Islands

The Galapagos
Archipelago is
located about 600
miles west of the
country of Ecuador,
South America. It
is made up of 19
islands.
The question is…
These islands are
nearly 600 miles
from the coast of
ANY continent!
 How could
anything start to
live there?
 Think about
it…there are three
possible solutions…

Darwin’s Finches
On these islands,
Darwin found
many different
kinds of finches.
 These were totally
different than the
ones on the
mainland of South
America.

But, how could this be?

Darwin observed
what the finches
ate and drew the
conclusion that the
various beak
structures allowed
them to eat
different kinds of
food.
Adaptations/Mutations
Some had large,
strong beaks and
ate hard nuts.
 Other with smaller,
pointier beaks
could not crack the
nuts.
 Some had delicate,
pointy beaks ad
probed flowers for
nectar.

Adaptability
 Adaptability
is the ability for genes to
change over MANY generations so a
species can survive in an ecosystem.
 Populations change over time due to
traits that just, by accident, happen
to be advantageous (help those
organisms survive).
 These traits are passed on to the
offspring. Survival of the fittest!
Adaptations of Darwin’s Finches
Evolving Beaks Data Table
 Activity
9, Page Five (5).
 Left hand column: draw/sketch the
type of seed AND describe it in
WORDS.
 Right hand column: draw/sketch the
type of beak needed to eat the seed
AND describe the beak in WORDS.
Beak Adaptations…Follow-up

What type of
seeds/food do you
think this bird
would eat?
Were you correct?
How about this one?
This one?
This one?
Last one…
Get the picture? Adaptations!
Let’s see what you have learned!
Summarize
Directions: You will be answering these four
questions.
What is meant by adaptability?
Why did Darwin’s finches need beak
adaptations?
What is meant by natural selection?
Why are an organism’s adaptations an
advantage in an ecosystem?
Right now! Put ALL pens/pencils in the cup on
the desks.
Within your group, talk about the answers!


1.
2.
3.
4.


Next…
Close your journals/lab books.
 Take your pen/pencil out of the cup.
 You will use ONE sheet of paper for the
entire group.
 You will need a heading with the names of
ALL group members.
 Each person will answer a different
question.
 When ALL questions are answered, turn
the paper over and put it in the middle of
the desks.
