SvS Biology 2000 - Year 10
Natural Selection Practical Simulation:
Aim:
- To determine which colour of beetle will have the
survival advantage on a grass covered area
Hypothesis:
- Colour
beetles will be best camouflaged, followed by colour
followed by colour.
Equipment:
- 50 Green beads
- 50 Black beads
- 50 Red Beads
- 8m string
- stopwatch
- 4 sticks
- plastic container
Procedure:
- count the beads to confirm numbers
- place beads in plastic container and mix
- set up 2m x 2m quadrat with string, using sticks as
corner markers
- scatter beads within area
- have one person collect beads rapidly, 1 at a time, for
2 minutes
- record each colour as it is collected for this duration
- at the conclusion of the 2 minutes, collect all beads
- return to lab and separate bead colour and count beads
- record all results in table
Results:
| |
Red |
Green |
Black |
# collected
(in 2 minutes) |
|
|
|
% collected
(in 2 minutes) |
|
|
|
# lost
(overall) |
|
|
|
% lost
(overall) |
|
|
|
Keep in mind that the numbers
"lost" is equivalent to the "survival": These beetles would have
survived the predators and be present in the environment in order to reproduce and pass on
their characteristics.
Discussion:
- What did your initial observations
show? What blended in well with the shadows?
- Reword the steps of the Theory of
Natural Selection to apply to this case study
Conclusion:
The hypothesis that blah
blah blah was supported
or rejected because blah
blah blah
Back to year 10 index
Email me at: vanstrien@optusnet.com.au to post questions
S. van Strien