Hunger Games Lab

Hunger Games Lab

1) In this lab, all of us were divided into 3 different variations of the same species. There were Stumpys, Knucklers, and Pinchers. It simulated natural selection.

2) The Pinchers were the best for capturing food since they were able to grab the food more efficiently using their pinkies and their thumbs.

3) The population did evolve because the allele frequency for each allele changed gradually over the course of the experiment. The allele frequency for both alleles began at .50 and the "A" allele ended with 0.35 and the "a" allele ended with 0.65. Therefore, the population did evolve.

4) One random event that occurred was where the food was placed and who was closer to it. Whoever ended up being closer had a greater advantage to surviving. A nonrandom event involves the type of phenotype the person was assigned.

5) If the food were larger, it would be a lot harder for the Pinchers and the Knucklers to pick it up, but would be easier for the Stumpys. If the food were smaller, it'd be easier for Pinchers and Knucklers but harder for Stumpys. Ways this could happen in nature is if a predator can't hunt prey that's bigger than itself. 

6) The results would have been different if there was not incomplete dominance because everyone would be either a Stumpy or a Pincher.

7) The relationship between natural selection and evolution is that natural selection causes evolution, since only those with weaker traits are unable to survive and reproduce, those that do survive reproduce and the future generations look only like those that had survived originally.

8) Strategies that people adopted in order to increase their likelihood of survival and reproduction usually involved cheating or stealing or being more aggressive. This would have affected the allele frequency in the population that those who took part in these strategies would have more offspring of their species. This occurs in nature when animals attack each other or rob others for food or survival.

9) In evolution, the phenotype is what evolves, not necessarily the being. Natural selection acts on mainly phenotypes, since these are what affect an organisms ability to adapt in their environment.

10) Are there some species that have underdog traits and still managed to survive and reproduce, even though they were expected to die off?

Unit 7 Relfection

Unit 7 Reflection

          In this unit, we learned all about ecology, including interdependence, homeostasis, cause & effect, and others. I felt more invested in this unit than others because I think it's interesting to learn about what affects our ecosystems and what we can do to help improve the conditions, and also very rarely felt confused or discouraged about learning more about ecology and the environment. 

          The first thing we learned about was, obviously, ecology. We were taught that ecology is the study of interactions between organisms in their environment. This means it's the study of predators, prey, and how other organisms that live together in an ecosystem work together. I learned that a niche includes all of the factors that a species needs to survive, stay healthy, and reproduce and that a habitat includes all aspects of the area in which an organism lives. I didn't think that there was much of a difference before. 

          Interdependence is when all living things are dependent on each other, and abiotic factors, for survival. I thought this was interesting because I didn't think that some living things were so crucially dependent on another to live. Homeostasis, or equilibrium, is when environments are healthiest when they are in balance. Just like the human body, environments are at their healthiest when there is nothing disrupting the natural flow of life. Cause and effect reminds me of karma because if something is thrown out of balance in an ecosystem, it will most likely have a lot of trouble recovering. 

          I feel like I learned a lot more about ecology and environments during the conservation project. It gave me a wider understanding of the true impact that humans have on many different environments across the globe. This project made me more sensitive towards issues like deforestation.