Understanding Natural Selection: The Wollyhop Lab

To understand the concept of natural selection and how it works we will be investigating the magical creature called the  Wollyhop. All wollyhops love to eat beans however some can eat the beans better than others can. This is due to the way the wollyhops' mouth is shaped. Some of the variations of the wollyhops mouth include a spoon-shaped mouth, knife-shaped mouth, fork-shaped mouth,  a prong-like mouth, and a straight pointed mouth. All of these wollyhops want to survive however over time, some of the wollyhops may go extinct because thy are not able to feed themselves enough beans. It is your job in this laboratory experiment to see which wollyhops will survive until the end and which wollyhops will become extinct.

Equipment for the Lab:

One bag of uncooked pinto beans

Three plastic spoons

Three plastic forks

Three plastic knives

Three Toothpicks

Three Tweezers

Procedure:

1. Each wollyhop must consume at least ten beans within the time limit. If the wollyhop can not consume this amount it dies.

2. The beans will be spread on a table and each student will be given one utensil each.

3. The start time will be 30 seconds.

4. Students will use their utensils in order to scoop up as many beans as possible in the allotted time limit.

5. Students will then count the beans to make sure that they have at least ten beans.

6. The wollyhops that did not get ten beans are dead.

7. These steps will be repeated with the time decreasing by five seconds each trial.

8. By the end of this lab it should be possible to see which type(s) of wollyhops are better adapted to survive on this planet.

9. Students will then discuss and answer questions regarding natural selection.

Post-Lab Questions:

1. Which type(s) of wollyhops survived until the very end?

2. Were there more of a certain type of wollyhop left at the end?

3. What problems did the wollyhops who became extinct face?

4. How does this lab reflect Darwin's concept of Natural Selection?

5. What errors in this lab could have lead to inaccurate results?