ForkBirds

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Data Analysis - Answer the following questions 1. Describe what happened to each type of fork bird over time.

-The Forkbirds with less tines have a less chance of "eating" food and they "die" then the Forkbirds who were able to get a lot of food and "eat" would have to roll the die and then see if the generations would change. I think it was very hard for a 1-tined bird to get food compared to 2-tined or 4-tined bird and the bird would die. Also, it depended on how the bird got its food. Some birds got a lot of food and didn't leave food for the others. This is why some of the birds didn't survive.

2. Which fork bird was the most successful? Use your data to support your answer.

-The most successful birds was the 4-tined birds because over the "generations" the number of 1-tined and 2-tined birds decreased and the number of 4-tined birds shot up. I think this is because the birds found it easier to scoop up more food when they had 4 tines rather than 1 or 2 tines. The forkbirds with four tines also have a bigger chance of surviving because they adapted faster to their environment. In our experiment the fork bird with 4 tines USUALLY got more food, but sometimes it depended on the method in which the birds got their food.

// 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 is how the animals survive. Some animals fight over the amount of food there is while other animals learn different ways to get food. I think that the more well adapted an animal is to its environment the easier it will be to go hunt for food or to get water or build a house. I think natural selection can also be based on how the animal chose to get its food. Like in my table, someone had a 2-tined forkbird and she was able to get a lot of food. Which shows that it all depends on strategy!

4. As a result of heavy rains, 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 that the 4-tined forkbirds can survive more again because they can get food faster and easier than forkbirds with one tine or two tines. I also think that it could be the 2 tined birds because they might be able to capture more berries. I think it is on chance, on strategy that the bird has on catcing food. If a bird figures out how to get food easily and quickly with one tine, then it can survive as well as the other forkbirds.

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?

-Cheetahs are becoming extinct because their prey are also becoming extinct. Or some cheetahs compete over food and one of them is going to lose. It also depends on their environment. For example, in the savannas if the cheetah wanders off and loses itself, then it may not know what to eat. Or if there are two cheetahs fighting over an antelope, then the faster and the most well adapted cheetah would most likely be able to get more food.