1. What would the eagles do if the weasels disappeared? 2. What would happen to the snakes if the rabbits decreased (Shared Predator) Why? eagles weaselssnakes rabbits field mice grasses

Location: Oktibbeha County, Mississippi Size: 20,424 students Admission Requirements: 24 – 27 average ACT Admitted: 63%

Setting: small town Mascot: Bully Bulldog Famous for: James Jones (RB for Dallas Cowboys), many athletes Football team currently ranks 11 th in the nation (7-0 record) Honors college!

BIRD BEAK LAB A lesson in adaptations

Question of the Day What adaptation did the bird that ate the most have? How did that adaptation help the bird to survive?

Background In any habitat, food is limited and the types of foods available may vary. Animals that have variations that enable them to take advantage of available foods will be more likely to survive. We call beneficial inherited variations adaptations. Adaptations are inherited characteristics that increase an organism’s chance of survival.

PROCEDURES

1.Mr. Vo will ask one student to help demonstrate with each “beak”. 2.We are now all very hungry birds. The tool we have selected is our “beak”. Wecan only use our beak to pick up food. NO HANDS! 3.The cup is our stomach. It must remain upright at all times. We must hold our beak in one hand and our stomach in our other hand, close to our body. Only food that is placed in the cup by the beak has been “eaten”.

4. Food items will be placed in our “habitat”. 5. When I say, “Go” you will have 30 seconds to feed (or until the food runs out). Collect as much food in your stomach as possible until I say “Stop”. 6. Then empty our stomach and count the contents. Record data in the Individual Data Table. Put all food items back into the Ziploc bag. 7. Repeat the activity with another food item until all items have been recorded.

Hypothesis Make a prediction as to which type of beak will be able to collect the most of each type of food. Your hypothesis should state which will be the best type of beak for each type of food and explain why you think that.

Note Anyone who is not responsible enough to maintain safe behavior at all times will no longer participate in the activity and will become an observer.

Class Data Use the Class Data to answer the ANALYSIS Section

We’re going to use this lab to talk variables

Let’s talk relationships… Who is the dependent one? What does it mean to be dependant? What does it mean to be independent?

Variables Today we are going to learn the difference between an independent and dependant variable.

Variables A (1) variable is a factor that can (2) change in an experiment.

Independent Variable An independent variable is a change that occurs in an experiment that is (4) a change directly caused by the experimenter. It is what the scientist is choosing to change as they conduct an experiment.

Dependant Variable A dependent variable is (5) the change that occurs due to the independent variable. This change is not directly made by the scientist, but as a result of the independent variable. The dependent variable is the thing that you are measuring.

Variables To make it easy, think of the independent variable as the cause, and the dependent variable as the effect.

Example Question: Does the type of bug spray affects the number of bugs that die?

Example Independent Variable In that experiment, the scientist was CHOOSING to change (6) the type of bug spray that was used, making it the independent variable.

Example Dependent Variable You could measure and test (7) the number of bugs that died when you changed the type of bug spray. That would be the dependent variable because it is occurring due to the type of bug spray you are using, and it is what you are measuring in the experiment.

Variables When testing for independent or dependant variable, ask: Is this variable depending on the other one? – If the answer is NO- Independent – If the answer is YES- Dependent

Example Question: What type of ice cream treat will stay cold for the longest amount of time?

Example Independent Variable The thing that will be changed is the type of ice cream treat. The scientist cannot directly change time. The independent variable is the type of ice cream treat because it is the change that is being made.

Example Dependent Variable Next, I need to look for what the independent variable is affecting. The type of ice cream determines how long it will stay cold. The dependent variable is the amount of time that is stays cold because it is affected by the independent variable.

3.) Create an appropriate bar graph for the class data for this experiment. Title: Spoon’s Effectiveness in Picking Various Foods