Charles Darwin Lab Report

Assignments 1: I developed a hypothesis to predict that the island with the finches with the larger beak will be able to adapt more rapidly to their surrounding and handle the hard seeds of their island verses the island with the finches with the smaller beaks. I left the primary beak size on Darwin

Exploring Natural Selection: A Simulated Study on Darwin's Birds Intro: In evolutionary biology, natural selection is hypothesized as organisms with advantageous traits are more likely to pass on their genes to the next generations, leading to evolution over time and generations. This lab is set to test Darwin's hypothesis through a simulation. In this lab, we simulated bird feeding behavior through varying traits in seeds, such as size and environment, while looking into how natural selection relates to changes in trait frequencies and how changes in the environment, beak size, and seed can affect natural selection. Natural selection is a concept by which organisms with advantageous traits for survival increase within a population over many

When that happens over many generations a species’ gene pool changes to only include the traits that are a best fit for ensuring survival of that species, and a new species may evolve. In the case of the Galapagos finches Darwin studied, biologists have since found that one of the differences was their beak size, which were adapted to the specific seeds available to the finches as food on the different islands. This would support this principle as only the birds able to eat the local seeds would be able to survive to reproduce, thus over many generations, new finches with a variety of different beak sizes would “evolve”. The

When travelling from island to island on the Beagle Voyage, Darwin collected finches from each island he visited. When he got back, he examined the birds realizing there were small but noticeable differences on the birds. This meant that there were different types of finches on each of the island, also meaning that there is more than one species of finch. Because each island had slightly different settings, each bird that had lived there adapted over time to better equip themselves for living on that particular island. The changes in the finches were subtle, just like how the islands were only slightly different. Different species of finches were born of the original ancestor and as more time passed and they grew more different. They grew different in terms of things like their beaks and their feathers. This example led Darwin to his idea of evolution because he saw that clearly there was no other explanation for his findings. This also proved his theory of natural selection because the original finch’s traits were weaned out and those original finches evolved into species that could survive the best in the climates of the different islands. Because he now believed that the finches had one common ancestor, he came to the conclusion that all life forms on earth have one common

Darwin’s first theory of evolution first formulated in 1859, by which the organisms changed over time as a result of changes in heritable physical or behaviour traits. Changes allows the organism to better adapt to its environment will help it survive

While he was on the voyage of the H.M.S. Beagle, a man named Charles Darwin viewed the relationship of plants and animals all over the world. He observed organisms on islands off the coast of South America and those on the mainland. His observations showed that these organisms were related, but not identical. This led Darwin into believing that over time, organisms must adapt to suit their environment. He explained his theories thoroughly in his book, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.

Darwin’s theory states that animals grow up and develop through the process of natural selection and inherit variations that increases their chances for survival of the fittest they then pass this onto future generations. When Darwin was on the Chatham island Darwin discovered two large tortoises he then discovered and proved his theory that animals adapt and change depending on what environment they live he discovered this by being able to tell which island the two tortoises came from by looking at their

He finally observed that overtime these birds developed different physical characteristics to help them be able to survive and adapt to their surroundings. Darwin developed the “Natural Selection” theory that stated that plants and animals adapt to their surroundings and environments in order to survive. He also stated that older generations of these species would eventually die out, because they do not have the newer characteristics that needed to be developed in order to live.

Darwin found the most important findings at the Galapagos Islands. These islands were filled with exotic life. These creatures were prehistoric-like, and not afraid of humans. This island was abundant with similar animals with slight variations. He found finches with small beaks used for insects and berries, and finches with much tougher beaks used for nuts. He determined that these creatures mutate in order to survive in their environment. This theory became known as “survival of the fittest”, or Natural Selection. Natural Selection is natural variations among a specie to insure the species reproductive success. During his voyage around the world, Darwin collected 1,500 animals, and 4,000 samples of skin and bones of his specimens.

The Galapagos islands were what helped Darwin make a groundbreaking discovery. As he explored the islands, he noticed that there were many finches. Yet, there was something peculiar going on. The finches had different beaks, and ate different things. Darwin suspected that the finches were all from the same lineage, and the theory of evolution helps prove that. When it was first presented, it received a lot of criticism, with mockeries being made of Charles(One of which is exemplified by artistic representations of his head on a monkey’s body). As time went on, though, the public eventually warmed up to

Carl Linnaeus was a Swedish Naturalist, He set up the system of assigning animals species names in latin (pg. 2). He also assigned them genus’s, families, and kingdoms. This gave other scientist a common language to use when talking about animals and in turn helped Charles Darwin with his examples and gave a general idea that all animals are connected in a way. Carl also inspired many future scientist’s to travel the globe including Charles Darwin. But Charles didn’t just form this earth shaking theory of evolution by looking at others work he actually explored places and observed the many animals there. On December 27, 1831 Charles Darwin began his scientific voyage that would ultimately change the world upon a ship called the “beagle”, the beagle 's voyage lasted almost five years. Darwin was on land most of this journey; investigating geology, and making natural history collections, while the beagle was mapping and charting the coast. In 1835 the beagle was charting the coasts of the Galapagos islands, during that time Darwin was on the islands. While Darwin was on the islands he noticed that there was a species of birds called the finch on all the islands. The thing about these birds was that they were all the same species, but on each island they had different sizes and shapes of beaks. Charles was baffled at such a discovery. How could Finches of the same species have such vastly

The theory of evolution by natural selection is developed by English naturalist Charles Darwin. Evolution is defined as, all living species are descendants of ancestral species and are different from modern-day organisms due to the process where there are physical and/or behavioural changes made over time———Natural selection occurs when these changes allow the organism to evolve and better adapt to its environment. This effecting the occurring populations of the species to adapt and change to different behaviour and physical traits. Darwin often describes it as “survival of the fittest”, “fitness’ referring to an organisms ability to survive and reproduce.——— Around 50-60 million years ago, there was thought to be around 350 different species

He wrote in his notebook about the conspicuous species he observed and obtained specimens of the unique plants and animals. In the video “Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life” the narrator mentions that a British resident residing in the Galapagos could decipher which island a tortoise came from, by looking at its shell. “If it had a rounded front, it came from a well- watered island; whereas one from a drier island had a peak at the front which enabled it to reach up to higher vegetation.” Darwin questioned himself and wondered if these different tortoises were a different species and if so, how did they evolve to suite their environment.

Over time, different species learn to adapt to their living environment in order to survive. If a genetic change of a characteristic is passed down through generations, a formation of a new species occurs (G, Linstead et. al., 2012). A variation to the characteristic of an individual can increase its survival and this provides more opportunities to reproduce. When the individual reproduces, the offspring benefit in result of the heritable genes and eventually through generations, the variants will be spread throughout the entire population (Montgomery, 2009). Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection can be supported through both fossils and homologous structures.

Charles Darwin discovered and developed this evolutionary mechanism called natural selection. It basically stated that if there existed variation in population there would be a struggle of survival. Darwin meant that those traits that were the most fit would be passed on to the next generation more often.