Fork+Birds+Chart

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=1. Describe what happened to each type of fork bird over time.= In the chart it shows that the 2-tined fork bird population decreased over time.The population started off at nearly one-hundred at the first generation. By the fifth generation the 2-tined fork bird population reduced to a little below sixty. By the tenth generation the 2-tined fork bird population reduced to a little below forty. The 4-tined fork bird population increased over time. The population started off at zero at generation one. By the fifth generation the 4-tined fork bird population increased to about thirty. By the tenth generation the fork bird population increased to nearly fifty. The one-tined fork bird increased over time. The population started of at zero in the first generation. By the fifth generation the population increased to a little over ten fork birds. By the tenth generation the population increased to a little below twenty.

=2. Which fork bird was the most successful?= The 4-tined fork bird was more successful. Not only that the 4-tined fork bird population increased, it increased more rapidly than the 1-tined fork bird population.

=3. Battling Beaks simulates the idea of natural selection. Based on what you did in class, your data and questions 1 and 2 what do you suppose Natural Selection is?= I think natural selection means how well a species survived over time, depending on their features. For example, in this lab we used 1-tined, 2-tined, and 4 tined forks and used it pick up Cheerio's. In the lab I found it easier to pick up Cheerio's with a 4-tined fork. This means that the 4-tined fork bird will be more successful in surviving and reproducing.

=4. As a result of heavy rain, the major food source for fork birds is now blueberries. After many generations, how many types of fork birds do you think there will be? What will the fork birds look like? Explain your answer.= I think there will be mostly 4-tined fork birds and a little bit of 2-tined fork birds. This will happen because it will be easier to pick up blueberries with a 4-tined fork. Blueberries can also be picked up with 2-tined forks, but not a lot. The 1-tined fork birds are extinct because they weren't able to pick up a lot of food.

=5. The cheetah, an extremely fast and efficient hunter, is an endangered species. The few cheetahs alive today show very little variation. How does this help to explain why cheetahs are on the verge of becoming extinct?= Knowing that a few cheetahs alive today show very little variation can make us understand why they are going extinct. I think they are going extinct because when new cheetah's are born, they are born EXACTLY as their parents. I f their parents are having trouble adapting to their environment, and if their off-spring is EXACTLY the same as them, that means the off-spring will also have trouble adapting to their environment. If the new generation of cheetahs changed a little over time, the cheetahs wouldn't be at the risk of becoming extinct.