Unit 8 Reflection

This unit was about evolution. I  learned about the constant change in species which are due to evolution and natural selection. I also learned about Artifical Selection and that people breed animals because they want them to have favorable genes. Also, in this unit, there was the bird beak lab and I had difficulty collecting food because I had a spoon-shaped like a beak. In the Hunger Games Lab, I lost every round because I was slow in collecting the corks. From this lab, I learned why natural selection favors organisms that are better adapted to their environment. I want to learn about the different types of selection more. I still want to know why the population is evolving so fast? I wonder about why is earth rapidly changing? I have not been any more assertive since watching the video. I still need to work on trying to be more assertive in my life.

http://pranayjalanbio.blogspot.com/2016/03/unit-8-reflection.html

Geologic Timeline Individual Reflection

The three major events in Earth's history are Cretaceous, Jurassic, and Triassic. One of these three major events is Cretaceous. The cretaceous period is significant because it was the last and longest segment of the Mesozoic Era, also known as the "age of dinosaurs". The cretaceous period lasted for 79 million years. The second of these 3 major events is the Jurassic Period. The Jurassic Period is known for large plant- eating dinosaurs and smaller carnivores as well. We have discovered over 700 species of dinosaurs. The last of these 3 major events is the Triassic Period. The Triassic period followed the largest extinction event in the history of life and so was a time when the survivors of that event spread and recolonized the planet. The scale of Earth's history is categorized by era and major events. I was very surprised to learn how many millions of years have gone past. I feel sad because there has been so much destruction of species in a short period of time. I hope in the future we can find alternative ways of doing things so that the planet can try to recover. I really want to know more about the dinosaurs and how they came to live in the Mesozoic Era. 

Hunger Games Analysis

1. We collected food with different abilities. This simulates how different animals collect food with different abilities.


2. The pinchers were the best.


3.  Yes, the frequency of the A alleles has changed 52% in my 7th generation the big allele was 43%. The frequency of my trait was 48% after my 7th generation, my frequency was 57%.

4. The food placement was random. When you flip the coin it simulated reproduction and how random this trait will appear.  In this experiment, the knucklers were the phenotype that had the highest chance of survival.

Bird Beak Lab

1. Graphs

2.  Part 1 Analysis

Individuals with better traits leave more offspring. The evidence for this is that in part 1 graph the tweezer beak had the highest number of chicks, eventually making up 39% of chicks. This is because the tweezer beak was able to collect more food. If they able to collect more food then there would be more offspring.

Populations begin to look more like the winners. The evidence for this is that the tweezer chicks  can collect more food, therefore, the offspring will survive. They “win” by getting food is competitive in nature. If more of the offspring survive, then the population of chicks will look like the tweezer chicks.

3. Part 2 Conclusion

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 organisms, in this lab birds, with better traits that allow them to get more food survive and leave more offspring. In our lab the chicks that were able to get more food, the tweezers chicks and the scissors chicks, made up a larger percentage of chicks (39% , and 27% respectively) . In part 2, when faced with the avian flu,  the tweezers and the scissors have the highest amount of offspring because they were able to collect more food. This relates to Darwin’s principle as his conclusion was that the organisms with the highest fitness would survive and pass on their genes to their offspring, leading to evolution of the species for organisms with the best traits.

While our data supported the hypothesis, the possible errors could have been due to the hands of students being tired or some students being quicker than others. This would lead to a disadvantage/advantage of getting food, this would alter the results because it's not based on the beak shape. Instead of using our hands, the lab would be improved by using a more uniform motion, like using shovels with different shapes. Also I would recommend that one student try out all of the different beaks instead of making different students using different beaks.

This lab was done to demonstrate the effects of selective pressure on the evolution of a species. From this lab I learned that the organism that has the best trait for the environment will have more offspring and pass on their genes, especially when faced with selective pressures that cause competition. This helps me understand the concepts of evolution and natural selection and how competition plays a role. Based on my experience from this lab, I can also think about how animals today have evolved in the world today and what traits make them best adapted, especially in environments heavily affected by humans.