Name: ________________________________
Period: _________
Bird Beak Lab
Goal: To learn about the advantages and disadvantages of variations by simulating birds with
different types of beaks competing for various foods and predicting the effects on population
survival and extinction.
Pre-Lab: Look at the following beaks found on different species of birds. Give a basic
description of each beak, then based on the structure of the beak, predict how each species uses
its beak to feed.
Hummingbird
Warbler
Species
Cardinal
Hummingbird
Eagle
Warbler
Pelican
Toucan
Cardinal
Pelican
Description
Eagle
Toucan
Function (type of food)
Procedure:
1. Give each member of your group ONE of the following: a pair of tweezers, a binder clip,
a spoon or scissors.
2. You are now a very hungry bird. The tool you have selected is your “beak.”
3. The cup is your stomach. It must remain upright at all times. You must hold your beak in
one hand and your stomach in your other hand, close to your body. Only food that is
placed in the cup by the beak has been “eaten.”
4. The first member of your group will have 20 seconds (timed using the clock by another
group member) to use their tool to attempt to eat the various food sources available to
you on the plate (your habitat).
5. Food items will be placed in your habitat. When the timer partner says “go,” you will
have 20 seconds to feed (or until the food runs out). Collect as much food in your
stomach as possible until the timer says “Stop.”
6. Empty your stomach and count the contents. Record data in your group data table below,
return all food to the plate, and start again from Step 4 with another group member with a
different beak type. Repeat until all members of your group have eaten.
7. When your data table is complete, clean up your station and begin working on the
analysis questions.
Partner
Beak Type
# Rice
# Rubber
Bands
# Beans
# Paper
Clips
1
2
3
4
Analysis Questions: Answer the following questions in complete sentences.
1. Based on your data, what bird beak was the best for each type of food?
Food
Bird Beak with Highest Capture #
Rice
Rubber Bands
Beans
Paper Clips
2. Which bird beak was the least adapted for ALL the food sources? ______________________
3. What would happen to the bird with the least well adapted beak out in the wild?
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4a) What would happen if all the bird types in this activity flew to an island where no birds had
been before and the only food available was rubber bands?
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b. Which birds would be the most successful? ________________________________________
c. Which birds would be the least successful? _________________________________________
5. If we came back to this same island (from #5) in 3000 years, what should we expect to see?
(What types of birds would live on this island- explain your answer!)
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6. What would have happened to the other bird types originally on the island? Explain why this
would occur.
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7. Key Concept: How does a species’ adaptations to their environment change populations in an
ecosystem? (Why are adaptations important to a species’ reproductive success?)
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Extension:
A. Using your phone, define the term natural selection (use the Berkeley site).
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Explain how natural selection produces organisms that are better adapted to their
environment.
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