NaturalSelectionReport1

NaturalSelectionby
DarwinsFinches

byEdithI.Solorio

Anthropology1020

6,February2015


NaturalSelectionReport2

NaturalSelectionbyDarwinsFinches

INTRODUCTION
CharlesDarwinwasthefirsttoestablishanddescribethetheoryofevolutionbynatural
selection.(3)HisresearchontheGalpagosIslandswiththe13distinctspeciesoffinches
constitutedthenotionthatdifferentvariationshaveadaptedinorderforlongtermsurvivalwithin
thepopulationbyvirtueoftheiroffspring.(1,3)Astimehasprogressed,beaktypeshave
evolvedtobettersuittheirpurpose.(1)Naturalselectionhasagoverninginfluenceoverthe
physicalandbiologicalvariationwithinapopulation,andovertimethesedifferentvariations
withinaspecieswillnotsurviveequally.(2)Alongwithnaturalselection,environmental
changesalsocontributeagreatdealtotheevolutionofvariousspecies,includingfinches..(3)
Hypothesis:
Ihypothesizethattweezerswillbemoresuccessfulingatheringthemostseeds.
Rationale:
Tweezersareaslenderandprecisetoolusedtoperfectlyobtainallsortsofthings
withoutmuchhassle,Ibelievedthatthiswouldmakethebestbeaktypebecausetheexecution
wouldbesharpandconcise.

MATERIALSANDMETHODS
Materialsusedforthisexperimentwerevariousutensils,including:tongs,chipclips,
largehairclips,binderclips,tweezers,clothespins,chopsticks,andsmallhairclips,actingas
beaktypes,Planterssunflowerseeds,andastopwatchdevice.
Inaclassof30people,abagofPlanterssunflowerseedswerespreadoutoneachdeskto
resembletheseedsfincheseat.Atthebeginningoftheexperiment,everyoneintheclasswas
givenautensilfromtheabovereferencedlisttoactasabeak:threepeopleweregiventongs,
fivepeopleweregivenchipclips,fivepeopleweregivenlargehairclips,threepeoplewere
givenbinderclips,fivepeopleweregiventweezers,fourpeopleweregivenclothespins,five
peopleweregivenchopsticks,andnoonewasgivenasmallhairclip.(Table1)Theobjectiveof
theexperimentwastopickupasmanyseedsasyoucould,oneatatime,usingonlyyour
designatedutensilinintervalsofsixtyseconds.Afterthesixtysecondswereupineachround,
thethreepeoplewiththemostseedsandthethreepeoplewiththeleastseedsrepresented
favorableandunfavorablevariation.Allthreepeoplewithfavorablevariationwouldkeeptheir


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beaktype,whiletwoofthemwouldpasstheirbeaktypeontotwopeopleoftheunfavorable
groupandtheotherwouldacquireadifferentbeaktype.Therewerefiveroundstothis
experiment.

RESULTS
Table1:
Beak
Types

Beginning

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Tongs

#: 3
Freq: 10%

#: 5
Freq: 17%

#: 7
Freq: 23%

#: 6
Freq: 20%

#:7
Freq: 23%

#:6
Freq: 20%

Chip Clips

#: 5
Freq: 17%

#: 5
Freq: 17%

#: 5
Freq: 17%

#: 6
Freq: 20%

#: 5
Freq: 17%

#: 6
Freq: 20%

Large
Hair Clips

#: 5
Freq: 17%

#: 5
Freq: 17%

#: 5
Freq: 17%

#: 5
Freq: 17%

#: 5
Freq: 17%

#: 5
Freq: 17%

Binder
Clips

#: 3
Freq: 10%

#: 2
Freq: 7%

#: 2
Freq: 7%

#: 1
Freq: 3%

#: 1
Freq: 3%

#: 1
Freq: 3%

Tweezers

#: 5
Freq:17%

#: 6
Freq: 20%

#: 6
Freq: 20%

#: 6
Freq: 20%

#: 6
Freq: 20%

#: 6
Freq: 20%

Clothes
Pins

#: 4
Freq: 13%

#: 2
Freq: 7%

#: 1
Freq: 3%

#: 1
Freq: 3%

#: 1
Freq: 3%

#: 1
Freq: 3%

Chopstick
s

#: 5
Freq: 17%

#: 5
Freq: 17%

#: 3
Freq: 10%

#: 4
Freq: 13%

#: 4
Freq: 13%

#: 4
Freq: 13%

Small
Hair Clips

#: 0
Freq: 0%

#: 0
Freq: 0%

#: 1
Freq: 3%

#: 1
Freq: 3%

#: 1
Freq: 3%

#: 1
Freq: 3%


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Graph1:

Beforethefirstroundthefrequencyforeachutensilwasasfollows:chipclips,largehair
clips,tweezers,andchopsticksallhadafrequencyof17%,clothespinshad13%frequency,
tongsandbinderclips10%frequency,andsmallhairclips0%frequency.(Table1)
Round1:Tweezerswerethemostsuccessfulwitha20%frequency.Tongs,largehair
clips,chipclips,andchopsticksallhadafrequencyof17%.Binderclipsandclothespinsboth
had7%frequency.Smallhairclipsstayedat0%frequency.(Table1)
Round2:Tongswerethemostsuccessfulwithafrequencyof23%.Tweezersstayedthe
sameat20%frequency.Largehairclipsandchipclipshadafrequencyof17%.Chopstickswent
downto10%frequency.BinderClipsstayedat7%frequency.Clothespinsandsmallhairclips
hadtheleastsuccesswith3%frequency.(Table1)
Round3:Tongs,chipclips,andtweezersallhadthemostsuccesswith20%frequency.
Largehairclipsstayedat17%frequency.Chopstickswentupto13%frequency.Binderclips,
clothespins,andsmallhairclipshadtheleastsuccesswith3%frequency.(Table1)
Round4:Tongshadthemostsuccesswith23%frequency.Tweezerskeptitsfrequency
at20%.Chipclipsandlargehairclipsbothhadafrequencyof17%.Chopsticksstayedat13%


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frequency.Binderclips,clothespins,andsmallhairclipsstayedconstantwithleastsuccesswith
3%frequency.(Table1)
Afterfiverounds,tongs,chipclips,andtweezersendedinathreewaytieformost
successingatheringseedswith20%frequency.Largehairclipscameinsecondwith17%
frequency.Chopsticksoneagainstayedat13%frequency.Theleastsuccessfulwerebinder
clips,clothespins,andsmallhairclipswiththeirconstantfrequencyof3%.(Table1)

CONCLUSION
Myhypothesisissupportedbythedatashownabove.Attheendoftheexperiment,there
wasathreewaytieformostsuccessingatheringseedsbetweentongs,chipclips,andtweezers.
Atthebeginning,tweezershada17%frequency.Inround1itincreasedto20%frequencyand
stayedconstantthroughouttheexperiment,endingwithtweezersbeingoneofthreemost
favorablevariations.(Table1)
Ifthepeopleparticipatingintheexperimentwerelyingabouthowmanyseedsthey
actuallypickeduporiftheywerepickingupmorethanoneseedatatime,thesecircumstances
couldpossiblycauseerrorsinthedata.Also,thepersoncontrollingeachutensilisanoutside
factorthatmostlikelyimpactedtheresults.Whilesomepeoplearegoodatusingtweezers,
otherscouldhavetroubleusingtweezerstopickuptheseeds.
Anyreplicationofthisexperimentwouldinvolveotherpeopledoingtheexperiment,and
thoseotherpeoplecouldbringinoutsidefactorsordifferentskills.Theresultsofother
experimentswouldlikelydifferfromthisspecificexperimentsdataandresults.However,all
replicationsofthisexperimentwouldservethepurposeofusingthescientificmethodand
supportingtheideaofnaturalselection.

DISCUSSION
Thescientificmethodisaproceduralapproachtoresearchwhereaproblemis
established,ahypothesisisstated,andthatsaidhypothesisistestedbycollectingandanalyzing
datathroughexperimentation.(3)Aftertheproblemorquestionhasbeenidentified,thefirststep
istoexamineexistingresearchtoseewhatothershavefoundanddoneregardingtheissuebased


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onthefindingsandotherobservationsahypothesisorhypothesescanbedeveloped.Inorderto
proveordisprovethestatedhypothesis,gatheringandinvestigationofdataiscrucial.Oncethe
courseofexperimentationisdone,theconclusionisthenestablishedsupportingorrejectingthe
initialhypothesisorhypotheses.(3)
Thescientificmethodisauniversaltechniqueanybodycanusetotestsomethingout.
Besidesscientists,fieldssuchasculinaryarts,marketing,journalism,corporatefinances,
governmentagencies,andthecriminaljusticesystemallusethescientificmethodforverifying
whattheyneedintheirrespectedwork.(4)
Inthisactivity,thescientificmethodwasusedtosupportorrejectthehypothesisthatwas
statedbeforetheexperimentbegan,andtocometoaconclusionaboutnaturalselectionsrolein
favorablevariation.
Thetheoryofevolutionbynaturalselectiondeemstheideathatfavorablevariations
withinapopulationwillbecomemorefrequentastimepasses.(3)Theunderlyingassumptions
ofnaturalselectionareasfollows:(3)
NaturalBiologicalVariation:
Naturalselectionwillnotcreatebiologicalvariation,thisiscreatedby
natureitselfthevariationwillbefavorable,unfavorable,orneutral.
Inheritance:
Variationmustbepassedontooffspringfromtheirparents.
Competition:
Aspopulationincreasesinsize,membersofaspecieswillcompetefor
limitedresourcessomesurvive,whileothersdont.
DifferentialReproductiveSuccess:
Individualswithinaspecieswithfavorablevariationaremorelikelyto
surviveandreproducemoreoffspring.
Bystudyingfavorableandunfavorablevariationwithinthisexperiment,theideaof
naturalselectionwassupported.Unfavorablevariationssuchasbinderclipsandclothespins
decreasedinfrequencythroughouttheexperiment.Thisdecreasedfrequencyinbeaktypes
establishedeachoftheunderlyingassumptionsofnaturalselection.


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REFERENCES
1. DariwnsFinchesandNaturalSelection
http://www.biologyonline.org/2/11_natural_selection.htm
2. Darwinsfinches:PopulationVariationandNaturalSelection
http://www.pnas.org/content/73/1/257.full.pdf+html
3. HumanOrigins:EvolutionandDiversity

Jurmain,R.,Kilgore,L.,andW.Trevathan,
HumanOrigins:EvolutionandDiversity
(9th
Edition)2013CengageLearningISBN:9781285923611

4. HowNonScientistsusetheScientificMethod
https://www.utexas.edu/courses/bio301d/Topics/Nonscientists/Text.html