Name: ______Hr: ____

Assigment #: ____

Introduction: The Egyptian Origami Bird (Avis papyrus) lives in arid regions of North Africa. The appearance of these birds is unique compared to other birds you have seen. Rather than long, flat wings that protrude from the side of the bird’s body, Avis papyrus has two circular wings which align with one another on the top of the bird’s body. Only those birds which can successfully fly the long distances between water sources will be able to live long enough to breed successfully. In this lab you will breed several generations of Origami Birds and observe the effect of various genotypes on the evolutionary success of these animals.

Materials: Paper, straws, tape, scissors, coin, six-sided die.

Method:

1.  Prepare ancestral bird:

a.  Cut two strips of paper, each 3 cm x 20 cm.

b.  Loop one strip of paper with a 1 cm of paper overlapping and tape. Repeat for the other strip.

c.  Tape each loop 3 cm from the end of the straw. These will be the bird’s wings.

2.  Breed offspring. Each Origami Bird lays a clutch of three eggs.

a.  Hatch the birds using these instructions:

i.  The first egg has no DNA mutations. It is a clone of the parent (in the interest of time you may substitute the parent when test flying this chick).

ii. The other two chicks have DNA mutations. For each chick, flip the coin and roll the die to determine what changes need to be made.

iii.  Lethal mutations – A mutation which results in a wing falling off of the straw, or in which the circumference of the wing is smaller than the circumference of the straw, etc. is lethal. Fortunately, Avis papyrus birds are known to lay an extra egg when one is lost, so if you should get a lethal mutation, disregard it and breed another chick.

Coin flip determines WHERE the mutation occurs: (head or tail end) / The roll of the die determines how the mutations affect the wings:
/ Heads = Head End / / 1= The wing moves 1 cm toward the end of the straw
/ Tails = Tail End / / 2 = The wing moves 1 cm away from the end of the straw
/ 3 = The circumference of the wing increases 2 cm.
/ 4 = The circumference of the wing decreases 2 cm.
/ 5 = The width of the wing increases 1 cm.
/ 6 = The width of the wing decreases 1 cm.

3.  Record the dimensions of each chick on your data sheet.

a.  Wing dimensions:

i.  Head wing: width of paper x length of paper.

ii. Tail wing: width of paper x length of paper.

b.  Wing location: distance of wing from the head and tail.

4.  Test the birds.

a.  Release the birds with a gentle, overhand pitch.

b.  It is important to release each bird as uniformly as possible (don’t throw one harder than another).

c.  Test each bird twice.

5.  The most successful chick is the one which can fly the farthest (it will be able to make it the next source of water).

a.  Mark which chick was most successful on the table.

b.  Only the most successful bird becomes a parent of the next generation.

c.  Continue to breed, test, and record data for as many generations as you can in the time allotted.

RESULTS: Record all results in the data table on the next page.

CONCLUSIONS: Answer the following questions using the information from your data table.

1.  Did your experiment result in better flying birds?

2.  Evolution is the result of two processes – variation and natural selection

a.  How did your experiment produce variation among the offspring?

b.  How did you experiment select offspring to breed the next generation?

3.  Compare your youngest (most recent) bird with that of another group.

a.  Compare and contrast the wings of other birds with your own.

b.  Explain why some aspects of the birds are similar.

c.  Explain why some aspects of the birds are different.

4.  Predict the appearance of your youngest bird’s descendents if…

a.  the selection conditions remain the same and the longest flying bird survives to product the most offspring.

b.  the selection conditions change and the worst flying bird survives to produce the most offspring.

c.  the selection conditions change and bird whose color blends with its environment survives to produce the most offspring.

RESULTS: Use the data table to record the results of your coin flips and die throws, the dimensions of all chicks, and the most successful bird in each generation.

Note: The “No mutation” chick in generations 1-4 is the SAME as the winning chick from the previous generation.

Generation 0 / Wing
dimensions / No mutation / ____ x ______x ____

Head Tail
______/ Coin / ____ x ______x ____

Head Tail
______/ Coin / ____ x ______x ____

Head Tail
______
Distance of wing from head & tail / Die / Die
Generation 1 / Wing
dimensions / No mutation / ____ x ______x ____

Head Tail
______/ Coin / ____ x ______x ____

Head Tail
______/ Coin / ____ x ______x ____

Head Tail
______
Distance of wing from head & tail / Die / Die
Generation 2 / Wing
dimensions / No mutation / ____ x ______x ____

Head Tail
______/ Coin / ____ x ______x ____

Head Tail
______/ Coin / ____ x ______x ____

Head Tail
______
Distance of wing from head & tail / Die / Die
Generation 3 / Wing
dimensions / No mutation / ____ x ______x ____

Head Tail
______/ Coin / ____ x ______x ____

Head Tail
______/ Coin / ____ x ______x ____

Head Tail
______
Distance of wing from head & tail / Die / Die
Generation 4 / Wing
dimensions / No mutation / ____ x ______x ____

Head Tail
______/ Coin / ____ x ______x ____

Head Tail
______/ Coin / ____ x ______x ____

Head Tail
______
Distance of wing from head & tail / Die / Die