Modeling Natural Selection

Kenichi Nishio
Period 7
Introduction
Natural Selection is one of the theories of evolution that have happened on Earth, issued
by Charles Darwin, 1859. Darwin proclaimed that “Individuals that have physical or
behavioral traits that better suit their environment are more likely to survive and will
produce more successfully than those that do not have such traits.” (Textbook p279)
However, according to Darwin, Natural Selection happens only if following 5
conditions are satisfied. (Worksheet 100)
1. Organisms produce more children than those will survive.
2. Due to inheritance of different alleles or mutations, children have many variations.
3. Organisms face an environment in which they have to struggle for survival.
4. Organisms with characters that are the best suited for the environments have more
chances to survive.
5. Organisms that survive pass their characters on to their offspring.
If we adapt this procedure to the birds and their ability of flying, the topic we are
studying in this lab, it is going to be like this.
1. Birds produce more children than those will survive.
2. There are many different looking birds, some have bright colors, long pinches, and
some can fly longer than the others
3. Birds in North Africa are lack of foods and water
4. They should be able to fly longer to get those to survive
5. Birds that can fly longer would survive and produce more offspring. Then the
character would be passed to the next generation.

“Wings” of birds is one of the evidences of evolution as it represents four important

things, Homologous structure, Analogous structure, Divergent evolution and
Convergent evolution. Five digits fingers support the structure of “Wings” for birds.
Many organisms have five digits fingers, though they are used differently, (ex, people
have five digits fingers that function as catching and throwing stuff) representing
Homologous structure. Many organisms have “Wings” that have same function (flying);
however, those “Wings” have different structure, (ex, Wing’s structure in butterflies and
birds are different but function same) explaining Analogous structure. Hawks that fly
fast to get prey have huge wings while swallows that fly long distance have small wings.
Because this shows different changing in related species, it is an example of Divergent
evolution. Bats and birds both have evolved to have wings to better meet needs of
similar environment, that to fly to catch their preys, usually insect, this exemplifies
Convergent evolution. Thus, “Wings” is very important evidence of evolution.

In this lab, we check how the “Wings” model the selection of favorable traits in new
generation by using paper model of birds which, imaging, lives in dry regions of North
Africa, assuming birds that can fly longer would survive as they can get more water and
foods. Since we are measuring how far the birds fly each time, the dependent variable
for this lab is the distance that the birds fly. The factors that affect to the dependent
variable, distance, are the mutations that happen in each bird. Those mutations affect the
position, circumference and the width of the wing either front or back, and they are
independent variables. Controlled variables, the things that have to stay the same for
entire lab, are strength of throwing, the person who throws the birds, winds that AC
produces, temperature in the room, materials that we use to make each bird, the amount
of tape that use.

Personally, what I would like to know from this lab is what the most efficient ratio of
wings is. And if I could get the ration, I would catch some birds and measure their
length of wings, get the ration and compare to the result that I got in this lab. The other
thing I want to know is how long it would take until the changing would be significant.
Part of definition of evolution says it takes a lot of time. So I think that is important as
we are modeling the natural selection.

Valuable
Independent Variables- mutation that occurs in birds (Wing’s position, circumference
and width) =variation of birds
Dependent Variable- the distance that the birds fly
Controlled Variables- Strength of throwing, the height and angle of where we throw, the
person who throws the birds, winds that AC produces, temperature in the room,
materials that we use to make each bird, the amount of tape that use
Materials
Tools- Scissors, cellophane tape, markers, a ruler, a six-sided die
Birds- Construction paper, soda straws

Procedure
1. Cut two stripes of paper 2 X 20 cm each. Make a loop with one stripe, letting 1 cm
to overlap and close it. Same things to the other loop.
2. Tape them 3 cm form the ends of the straw.
3. Throw it five times and get the average of best four score.
4. Assuming the birds would produce three eggs. One of them is clone of the parents
5. The other two have mutations, which are determined by a die and a coin.
StepA Flip a coin to determine which end is affected my mutations
Heads=Front Tails=Back
StepB Throw a die to determine how the mutation affects the wing
1=Wing position moves 1 cm toward the end of the straw
2=Wing position moves 1 cm toward the middle of the straw
3=Wing circumference increases by 2 cm
4=Wing circumference decreases by 2 cm
5=Wing width increases by 1 cm
6=Wing width decreases by 1 cm
StepC If a wing falls off the straw or a wing’s circumference becomes smaller than its
of the straw, the mutation is lethal. Then make another one.
6. Record the mutations and the wing dimensions of each children
7. Throw each one five times and get the average of best four. The one with the
greatest distance is the most successful.
8. Assume that the most successful bird in the previous generation in the sole parent
of the next generation. Repeat steps 4-7
9. Continue until Generation 6
10. Dispose of paper scraps in the designated waste container
11. Clear work area and all lab equipment.
( Textbook 296)
Data Processing
1 Data table: Title- data of the birds that flew the furthest in each generation, 4 in total including
the first parent. Date of Avg distance (m), Anterior wing (cm) and Posterior wing (cm) are
shown
Distance
Birds Distance
Width Circum Width Circum from Avg
Wings from Front
Back
①Parent 2 19 3 2 19 3 1.75
②Generation 1 2 17 3 2 19 3 2.975
③Generation 2 2 17 3 1 19 3 3.85
④Generation 3 2 17 3 1 19 2 3.925
2 Data table: Title- data of the birds that flew the shortest in each generation, 4 in total including
the first parent. Data of details of Anterior wing (cm), Posterior wing (cm) and the average
distance Avg (m), are shown

Birds Distance Distance

Width Circum Width Circum Avg
Wings from Front from Back
⑤Parent 2 19 3 2 19 3 1.75
⑥Generation 1 2 19 3 2 19 3 1.725
⑦Generation 2 2 19 3 2 19 2 2.75
⑧Generation 3 2 17 3 1 17 2 2.125
(please see my observation sheet to see how long each bird flew in each attempt)
(the data of birds that flew the middle is on the char, please see it if you would like too)

Graph: Title- showing and comparing the average distance that each birds. The all the average
distance in this graph are pulled out from previous tables.
Setting X value as the numbers that are given to each birds (on the tables), and Y value as the
average distance that each birds flew.
Conclusion (please refer to the tables to check what each numbers mean)
Comparing ③ and ④, the average distance that latter flew is longer than the former. Same
thing can be said for ⑥ and ⑦. This tells us that the wings should not be the same distance
from the ends. The wing on the back should be closer to its end. Because this happens in both
the furthest and shortest case, this fact should be a truth. Comparing two tables, we can tell the
birds which flew the furthest in each generation have different circumference for two wings,
while the birds with shortest distance have wings with same circumference. It is disappointing
that we could not get the case that the wing on the back is smaller that the wing on the front.
The result may have been different. We need more mutations of width to conclude about it.

I had two research questions; one of them was to find the best ratio in circumference between
front and back wings. But because I could not get many patterns, I cannot say that I found the
answer for that. The other one was to find when is the changing would be significant. Referring
to the tables, the significant difference can be seen in Generation 2. Even though the evidence is
bit week, we can conclude that the natural selection can be seen in the second generation from
the parents.

The important thing that I found is that mutation can be failure. I used to think that mutation
happens to adapt to the environment. However, as this lab shows, some birds flew shorter than
the previous generation.

Evaluation
1. We could only go around for 4 generations, which mean that we do not have date that much
compare to other groups. I think we should have been more organized in many parts.
2. I think the place where we throw the birds and measure the distance was too crowded al the
time. So next time people have to do it, they should use like P.E gym or those kinds of
places.
3. I think group of 3 people was too small. Taking observation, cutting papers, throwing and
organizing the place can not be handled by 3 people.
4. We should have read the text book and understood the process much better, so that our lab
went more fluently.
5. I always miss taking observation because of the hard work. I should have been more
careful about taking notes in each attempt.