Natural Selection Candy Lab



Natural Selection Candy LabPurpose:To study natural selection by modeling how it occurs in nature through this activity.Background Information:Natural selection is the process allowing favorable traits for survival to be passed down through heredity that allows an organism to be successful in its environment. Some people call it the survival of the fittest. Each organism is adapted to fit its environment. Adaptations affect the phenotype, physical appearance, and the genotype or the genetic pairing of alleles of an organism. Most adaptations happen over very long periods usually over thousands, hundreds thousands and even millions of years.Lab Information:Currently residing in the candy land habitat is a variety of different candies. Each has unique traits that it can pass down to its offspring. No predators have endangered this habitat for sometime so each population has maintained a steady population, although the heresy kisses are the most abundant. However, danger looms on the horizon and dangerous predators are headed this way. The have long appendages with five extensions that can efficiently grab up candy like you wouldn’t believe and a large orifice that inhales candy in a matter of seconds. Fortunately, they can only take 5 total pieces before becoming too excited to concentrate on hunting. The different populations of candy in candy land are terrified and no one knows whom these terrifying creatures will grab. Each candy population is wondering which one of them has the best adaptations for survival and will it be enough!!!!Directions:Choose 5 candy organisms from the candy land habitatRecord each piece that you chooseRecord the phenotypes, physical appearance, for each candy organism(Example, it had attractive wrapping, smelled good, shaped attractively, ugly wrapping, small size, color)Record the genotype, genetic traits, for each candy organism(Example, chocolate flavor, large size, favorite brand, bad flavor, unrecognized brand, soft, chewy, fruity)Record the original candies in the bowl and their original population numbers in a table Create a bar graph using the original list of candies and the populations numbers on the boardCount the remaining candy left in the candy land habitat bowl and record the current population numbers(Teacher will help with this activity)Record the remaining candy data in a tableAdd to the same bar graph the data from the remaining candy, see axis to guide youAnswer the concluding questions based on your data and informationNOW YOU MAY EAT YOUR CANDY PREY!QuestionWhich candy will survive to reproduce? Why? QuestionWhich candy will survive to reproduce? Why? Hypothesis: Make your ownDATARecord the candy you selected __________________________________________________________________Record the phenotypes and genotypes for the each piece of candy in habitat (consult peers)Candy OrganismPhenotypeGenotypeRecord in the tables below the data for each population of candy before and after the attack Original PopulationAfter Attack PopulationCandy NamePopulationAttack 1Attack 2 Candy NamePopulation Create bar graph that represents both the original candy data and the after the attack candy dataInclude axis titles for both x and y-axis, label each bar correctly and use color or patterns to identify each data setScale by units of 25049484746454443424140393837363534333231302928272625242322212019181716151413121110987654321Analysis/ConclusionAnswer the following concluding questionsWhich candy survived with the highest population after the attack and what is your evidence? Describe the adaptations it had that allowed it to survive and will it continue to “reproduce”?Explain which candy was preyed upon the most after the attack and what traits did it have that contributed to its consumption?Predict what will happen to the candy bowl if after each attack 1 candy offspring was added to the population for each parent. (For example 2 Hershey - 2 more offspring, 10 cinnamon – 10 more offspring)Conclusion – Write summary of hypothesis and use lab data to provide evidence ................
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