Galapagos Finches

This lab activity is due at the end of module 2. We are going to explore natural selection and evolution in the Galapagos finches using actual data collected by Peter and Rosemary Grant. The website for the laboratory is: http://bguile.northwestern.edu/. You are going to use this website to develop a presentation that explains why the finch population declined and what allowed some of the individuals to survive. This website will be your primary source – please do not use other resources as this is the actual data collected from scientists. You can use other sources for pictures but use this website for your data.
Using the Galapagos finches website you are going to develop a presentation (using powerpoint, word, or some free equivalent such as openoffice.org or google docs/drive). The assignment is found below:
Introduction: In the 1970s, scientists were studying a group of ground finches in the Galapagos Islands when they witnessed a major decline in the population. These scientists became interested in why the birds were dying and why certain birds managed to survive. This computer program (The Galapagos Finches) allows you to explore the actual data that was collected by the researchers including environmental data, predator populations, and finch populations.
Your mission: Your mission is to answer two questions:
1. What caused the decline of the finch population?
2. What allowed some finches to survive?
Assessment: You will prepare a PowerPoint (or other software) presentation to address the above two questions.
You need to include the following in your presentation:
1. Your explanations/hypotheses in regards to the two major questions.
2. Supporting data from the software program (graphs, charts, etc.)
3. At least two alternative explanations/hypotheses with supporting data.
In science and in other areas of life you cannot simply make any claim you want you need to thoroughly justify your claim with evidence.
Your work will be judged based on several criteria:
Does your explanation follow a logical sequence?
Are all claims justified with evidence?
Have you addressed alternative explanations?
Is data accurately interpreted?
POWERPOINT SETUP: This is a basic set up and represents the bare minimum (more slides are necessary to earn full credit). A powerpoint with only 8 slides will not earn full credit – for your supporting data I would include around 4 slides for each hypothesis.
Slides:
1. What is the problem/issue?
2. Background on the finches
3. Hypothesis why the population declined
4. Data to support hypothesis (graphs, charts, etc. from the program)
5. Hypothesis why some survived
6. Data to support hypothesis, (graphs, charts, etc. from the program)
7. Alternative hypotheses (two) with explanations

8. Conclusion

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