Bird Beak Lab

We did a Bird Beak lab, where we tested to see which beak could get more offspring. We used tweezers, a binder clip, and scissors to mimic the different beak types. I thought that if one type of beak can pick up more food than the others, then that will overpower the others and only that species will survive. In this lab we asked the question: If natural selection occurs in a population, how do changes in selective pressures affect the evolution of that species. We found that the tweezers, which is the most similar to the woodpecker, could get the most offspring. In the first part, the tweezers got 20 chicks , while the binder clips and scissors only got 16 and 18. This data supports our claim because eventually, the woodpecker would gain more and more offspring, until it overpowers the other birds.

While our hypothesis was supported by our data, we could have had errors due to the speed of a person. One person might be able to pick up more "food" even with a weaker beak. To eliminate these possible errors, I would recommend having the same person test with all the different types of beaks rather than having different people using different beaks. Another thing we could do to improve this experiment is to have more tests. 

The lab was done to demonstrate how natural selection works. From this lab I learned the concept of natural selection. Based on my experience from this lab, I know how evolution can happen from natural selection.