Lesson 8. Understanding Natural Selection with a Physical Model of Bird Flight

Sugat Dabholkar
Biology
three to four class periods
High School
v1

Overview

This activity is based on Karin Westerling's Mini-Lesson on natural selection and evaluation of origami birds, and reserach by Dr. Yamanoi. 

Westerling, KE (1992). http://www.indiana.edu/~ensiweb/lessons/origami.html. Accessed 19 Feb 2015.

Students will learn about random mutations producing random variation and how those will affect chances of survival and reproduction.

They will also learn that mutations do not occur to meet the survival needs of an organism. 

Standards

Next Generation Science Standards
  • Life Science
    • [HS-LS4] Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity
  • NGSS Practice
    • Analyzing Data
    • Communicating Information
    • Constructing Explanations, Designing Solutions
    • Asking Questions, Defining Problems
    • Using Models
    • Arguing from Evidence
    • Conducting Investigations
Computational Thinking in STEM
  • Data Practices
    • Analyzing Data
    • Collecting Data
    • Creating Data
    • Manipulating Data
    • Visualizing Data
  • Modeling and Simulation Practices
    • Using Computational Models to Find and Test Solutions
    • Using Computational Models to Understand a Concept
  • Systems Thinking Practices
    • Investigating a Complex System as a Whole
    • Thinking in Levels
    • Understanding the Relationships within a System

Credits

This lesson has been developed originally developed Westerling's Origami Birds, and the research by Dr. Yamanoi.

Westerling, KE (1992). http://www.indiana.edu/~ensiweb/lessons/origami.html. Accessed 19 Feb 2015.

Yamanoi, T., Suzuki, K., Takemura, M., & Sakura, O. (2012a). Improved “origami bird” protocol enhances Japanese students’ understanding of evolution by natural selection-a novel approach linking DNA alteration to phenotype change-. Evolution: Education & Outreach, 5, 292–300.

Acknowledgement

It has been adapted for CT-STEM website with help of Anagh Purandare and Aniruddh Shastry. 

Activities

  • 1. Let's get started!
  • 2. Make a prediction about future of your Karnataka Straw Birds!
  • 3. Let's breed the first generation!
  • 4. Let's continue bird breeding!
  • 5. Making sense of it all

Student Directions and Resources


In this lesson, you will use a model of a Karnataka Straw Bird (Avis plasticopapyrus) living in arid regions of North Karnataka in India.

Only those birds which can successfully fly the long distances between the sparsely spaced food sources will be able to live long enough to breed successfully. In this lesson you will breed several generations of Avis plasticopapyrus and observe the effect of various changes on the evolutionary success of these birds.

1. Let's get started!


Make sure you have the following material on your workstation.

chart paper, tape, straws, scissors, coin, six-sided die

Prepare the ancestral/parental bird:

Cut two strips of paper, each 3 cm x 20 cm.

Loop one strip of paper with a 1 cm overlap and tape. Repeat for the other strip.

Tape each loop 3 cm from the end of the straw.

Find a reference picture below:


Question 1.1

Upload a picture (photo) of your ancestral bird. (Top view)

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Question 1.2

Upload another picture of your ancestral bird. (Side view)

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2. Make a prediction about future of your Karnataka Straw Birds!


Read instructions very carefully about how the bird will breed and produce offspring.

Each Origami Bird lays a clutch of three.

Record the dimensions of each chick and hatch the birds using these instructions:

The first chick is exactly like the parent. In the interest of time you may substitute the parent when testing this chick.

The other two chicks have changes based on the following rules:

For each chick, flip your coin and throw your die then record the results. 

Rule 1: The coin flip determines where the mutation occurs: the head end or tail end of the bird

HEAD     ►   Head/cephalic end

TAIL        ►  Tail/caudal end

Rule 2: The die throw determines how the mutations affect the wing:

1 = The wing moves 1 cm toward the end of the straw

2 = The wing moves 1 cm away from the end of the straw

3 = The circumference of the wing increases 2 cm

4 = The circumference of the wing decreases 2 cm

5 = The width of the wing increases 1 cm

6 = The width of the wing decreases 1 cm

Lethal changes:

A change which results in a wing falling off the end of straw, or in which the circumference of the wing is smaller than the circumference of the straw, etc. is lethal.

Survival of the birds:

You will release the birds with a gentle, overhand throw, making sure that you release the birds as uniformly as possible.

You will test each bird twice.

The most successful bird is the one which can fly the farthest.

The most successful bird is the sole parent of the next generation.

 


Question 2.1

Make a prediction about how a surviving bird will look like after 20 generations.



Question 2.2

Which part of the breeding and survival processes explained before will lead to increase in the variety of birds? 



Question 2.3

Which part of the breeding and survival processes explained before will lead to decrease in the variety of birds? 

3. Let's breed the first generation!


Breeding instructions:

Here are the instructions again for your quick reference. 

Each Origami Bird lays a clutch of three.

Record the dimensions of each chick and hatch the birds using these instructions:

The first chick is exactly like the parent. In the interest of time you may substitute the parent when testing this chick.

The other two chicks have changes based on the following rules:

For each chick, flip your coin and throw your die then record the results.

Rule 1: The coin flip determines where the mutation occurs: the head end or tail end of the bird

HEAD     ►   Head/cephalic end

TAIL        ►  Tail/caudal end

Rule 2: The die throw determines how the mutations affect the wing:

1 = The wing moves 1 cm toward the end of the straw

2 = The wing moves 1 cm away from the end of the straw

3 = The circumference of the wing increases 2 cm

4 = The circumference of the wing decreases 2 cm

5 = The width of the wing increases 1 cm

6 = The width of the wing decreases 1 cm

Lethal changes:

A change which results in a wing falling off the end of straw, or in which the circumference of the wing is smaller than the circumference of the straw, etc. is lethal.

Survival of the birds:

You will release the birds with a gentle, overhand throw, making sure that you release the birds as uniformly as possible.

You will test each bird twice.

The most successful bird is the one which can fly the farthest.

The most successful bird is the sole parent of the next generation.

Use this spreadsheet to record your data.

 

Upload the photos of first generation surviving bird.


Question 3.1

Top view of surviving bird

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Question 3.2

Side view of surviving bird

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4. Let's continue bird breeding!


Make sure you record all your observations in the spreadsheet.

Take pictures of surviving birds of 5th generation, 10th generation, 15th generation and 20th generation. Use a reference object in all your pictures for an easy comparison. 

Upload your spreadsheet and pictures below.


Question 4.1

Top view of 5th generation survivor

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Question 4.2

Side view of 5th generation survivor

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Question 4.3

Top view of 10th generation survivor

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Question 4.4

Side view of 10th generation survivor

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Question 4.5

Top view of 15th generation survivor

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Question 4.6

Side view of 15th generation survivor

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Question 4.7

Top view of 20th generation survivor

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Question 4.8

Side view of 20th generation survivor

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Question 4.9

Upload your spreadsheet here.

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5. Making sense of it all


Let's think about how natural selection operated in the bird flight activity. 


Question 5.1

Did your experiment result in better flying birds? Provide evidence to support your answer.



Question 5.2

Which is the step that led to the increase in the variation in the bird population?



Question 5.3

Which is the step that led to the decrease in the variation in the bird population?



Question 5.4

Compare physical features of the surviving birds of the 5th; 10th; 15th and 20th generations using the pictures you have stored. 

What are the similarities you notice in these birds? Write the possible reasons for these similarities.



Question 5.5

What are the differences you notice in these birds? Write the possible reasons for these differences.



Question 5.6

Compare physical features of the surviving bird of the 20th generation with that of the group NEXT to you.

What are similarities and differences you notice in these birds?



Question 5.7

Write the possible reasons for the similarities and differences.



Question 5.8

Compare your results with the prediction you made before the beginning of the experiment.



Question 5.9

Predict the appearance of your 20th generation survivor bird’s descendants if the selection conditions change the worst flying bird survives to produce the most offspring.