Nash Stewart

Anth 1020
ePortfolio Assignment
02/06/2015
Title

Darwins Finches with Utensils as Beaks

Introduction
There is a lot of literature on the subject of Darwins finches. It seems as
though it has been a topic of great discussion ever since Darwin studied the beaks
of the finches he obtained on the Galapagos Islands. Scientists and Ornithologists
have been following these species and studying them for almost two centuries,
trying to discern the common ancestor of all of Darwins finches (Abzhanov, 1002).
They have studied everything from color of plumage to beak type and many people
have varying opinions on the subject (Baptista/Trail, 665). As of yet, however, it is
still to be decided for sure whether or not these finches have a common ancestor,
what it is, and where it is, or was, located if it is extinct.
My hypothesis for this particular experiment is that the chip clips will be the
most successful utensil for gathering seeds. I think this because the chip clips
appear to have a lot of control and can open easily and hold on tightly to the seeds.
This would make it an ideal beak for a bird to have in order to gain the most
nourishment.
Materials and Methods
The materials we used for this experiment were tongs, chip clips, large hair
clips, binder clips, tweezers, clothes pins, and chopsticks. These were meant to
represent various beak types of Darwins finches. The sunflower seeds represent
the food that the birds would gather, and the cups represent their stomachs. In this
manner we can visualize the amount of nourishment a particular type of beak would
yield.
In this activity, the utensils were distributed to 30 students randomly. This
lets the students use the utensils and represent variations in beak types throughout
the population of finches. There were five rounds of eating. These consisted of the
students using their given utensils to pick up sunflower seeds and put them in the
cups. Each round lasted the same amount of time. Between each round, the
sunflower seeds in each cup were counted and documented. The three students
with the fewest seeds lost their utensils. Each one of the three students with the
most seeds gave one utensil of their kind to one of the students with the fewest

Beak
Types
Tongs
Chip Clips
Lg. Hair
Clips
Binder
Clips
Tweezers
Clothes
Pins
Chopsticks
Sm. Hair
Clips

Beginni Roun
Round Roun
Round Round
ng
d1
2
d3
4
5
3
5
7
6
7
6
5
5
5
6
5
6
5

3
5

2
6

2
6

1
6

1
6

1
6

4
5

4
5

2
3

1
4

1
4

1
4

seeds that lost their own type of utensil. This simulated the passing on of favorable
genes from one successful generation to another. Also at the end of each round,
frequency of beak types was documented, to maintain accuracy of recorded data.
At the end of round two, a new beak type was introduced into the population. It was
small hair clips. This was given to one of the three students with the least amount
of seeds to simulate random mutation.
Results

The data shows the different utensils that were used. It shows how many
there were of each to start with and how many there were at the end of each round.
This way you can see which ones were the most successful utensils or beaks within
the population, and which ones that could potentially become the most prevalent
kind within the society. The small hair clips started out at zero because at the end
of round two they were introduced as a random mutation to demonstrate that not
all traits come directly from reproducing within a population.

Darwin's Finches With Utensils As Beaks

8
7
6
5
Frequency

4
3
2
1
0
Round

Conclusion
I found that my hypothesis was incorrect. The chip clips were not the most
successful utensil for feeding the finches. They began at five and ended at six. The
tweezers also started with five and ended with six. While both of these results were
fairly successful, the tongs were found to be the most successful at increasing
frequency. They began with only three utensils and reached seven during one of
the rounds. All other beak types either stayed the same or decreased in number.
There are some errors that could be associated with this experiment. The
utensils for each beak type could have been counted and distributed incorrectly, or
counting the seeds within the cups incorrectly. There are also more variables like
the students skill with particular utensils such as chop sticks. Students were also
given the ability to gain practice with their utensils as the experiment and the
rounds progressed. Some students could possibly experience fatigue in their hands
as a result of pressing too hard to open chip clips for example. Or students lack of
enthusiasm for the experiment due to illness or another factor, which would
possibly lead to laziness while collecting seeds.

If an experiment is replicated by other researchers it adds value to your

experiment by diminishing the possibility of error, such as the more people who
continually perform the same experiment, the less margin of error for recording the
results.
Discussion
The Scientific Method is a method used in the collection and analysis of
scientific data. It is a process by which scientific observation can be proved or
disproved through repeated experimentation. It begins with a scientist observing a
phenomenon which he cannot explain. Then they develop a hypothesis, or an
educated guess, as to what could be causing the phenomenon. The next step is for
the scientist to set up an experiment designed to test their hypothesis to either
prove or disprove it. They use the collection of empirical data for this. After the
duration of the experiment, the scientists record the results and allow them to
either prove or disprove their original hypothesis. They accurately record all steps of
the experiment so that other scientists have the same opportunity to replicate the
experiment exactly in order to disprove or affirm the results of the previous
experiments.
The Scientific Method is a good way to find conclusions to phenomena.
Because of this there are many other fields that use it to explain what goes on in
their field. They are generally the hard science fields, such as physics, chemistry,
and biology. This method can be useful for many different things.
This particular activity helped us use the scientific method through
experimentation. We were able to hypothesize before we performed it and
speculate as to which utensil we thought would be the most effective as a makeshift
beak. We then were able to perform the experiment to test our hypotheses. This
helped many of the students either prove or disprove their original hypotheses, and
the results were recorded accurately so that others would also be able to perform
this particular experiment.
The theory of evolution by natural selection assumes that organisms with
unfavorable characteristics that hinder their ability to survive long enough to
produce healthy offspring, and then raise those offspring to an age that they too
can reproduce will be removed from their population. It assumes that populations
can increase faster than their food supply, and produce more offspring than there
are resources for, thereby creating competition for survival. There are some traits
that are more beneficial in particular environments than others and it is the
prevalence of these desirable traits within a population that lead to evolution
because it increases the likelihood that they will survive and produce offspring.
Because the individuals with more favorable traits have more children, eventually
their desirable traits become more common within a population, whereas
undesirable traits arent passed on as frequently to the following generations and

become less prevalent in a population over time. Geographical isolation can also
contribute to this, because the separated populations begin to adapt to different
environments, with the possibility of eventually becoming a distinct species
(Jurmain/Kilgore/Trevathan, 20).
This activity supported the theory of evolution through natural selection
because the utensils that were least fit to feed a bird were not allowed to pass their
beaks on to their offspring, because these students lost their utensils. The students
with the utensils that gathered the most seeds bore offspring, because they gave
utensils just like theirs to the students who lost their beaks. The utensils that were
better suited for supporting a well-nourished individual were allowed to live, mate,
and increase their kind in the population. Utensils which were less fit for gathering
seeds decreased in population and led to the population evolving and adapting to
the more desirable trait.
References
1. Baptista, Luis F. Trail, Pepper W. On the Origin of Darwins Finches. The Auk.
Vol. 105, no. 4 (Oct., 1988). pp. 663-671
2. Abzhanov, Arhat. Philosophical Transactions: Biological Sciences. Vol. 365, No.
1543. Darwins Galapagos Finches in Modern Evolutionary Biology. 12 April
2010. Pp. 1001-1007.
3. Jurmain. Kilgore. Trevathan. Human Origins: Evolution and Diversity. Cengage
Learning. 2013. United States. Pp. 20-21