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http://mset.rst2.edu/portfolios/t/tiboldo_c/ToolsVis/ToolsVisWeb/FinalProject/Introduction.htm
Name: ____________________________
Date: _________________
Life Science
Period: ________________
Voyage of the Beagle
Charles Darwin
Log Sheet
Santiago:
1. Fish lay thousands of eggs in one reproductive cycle. What are some factors that
prevent the majority of these eggs from developing into fish that then reproduce on
their own? (In other words, why do most of the fish die before they ever become
adults.)
2. Overproduction obviously benefits the survival of fish species greatly. What could
might happen to a fish species if it did not have overproduction of eggs?
3. What importance does overproduction play in Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural
selection? (In other words, which young fish will survive to adulthood and be able to
reproduce.)
Salvador:
1. What is the praying mantis’ strategy for self defense?
2. The mantis is nearly invisible sitting on a leaf in the forest, but when the scientist
places the insect on his blue shirt, it becomes very obvious. What does this suggest
about how well this species of mantis would survive in a different environment -- a
desert or a rocky slope, for example?
3. If a mantis in a desert was born with mutation that made it brown, how would that new
coloration become more common in the future generations of praying mantises?
4. Would an individual mantis be able to transform its appearance if it were placed in
another type of environment? Why or why not?
http://mset.rst2.edu/portfolios/t/tiboldo_c/ToolsVis/ToolsVisWeb/FinalProject/Introduction.htm
Galapagos Islands:
Click on the picture of Darwin.
This diagram presents 10 species of finches on the Galapagos Islands, each filling a
different niche on various islands. All of them evolved from one ancestral species, which
colonized the islands only a few million years ago.
1. Describe the types of variation you see in the illustrations of Darwin's finches.
2. Why do you think each species' variation makes it well adapted for its food supply?
3. If the finches had not evolved a variety of beaks and they all fed on the same food
supply, what would happen to the numbers of finches that the Galapagos Islands
could support?
Australia:
READ THIS!!! The Isthmus of Panama only arose some 3 million years ago due to
geological uplifting of the land and a drop in sea level when Earth became cooler. When
the land mass was formed, the shrimp in the area were separated by an impassable
barrier: The populations of snapping shrimp that were divided by the isthmus of Panama
have diverged into separate species. This is known as speciation.
1. How many different species of shrimp are currently found in the waters surrounding
the Isthmus of Panama?
2. Scientists today know that an important factor in speciation is isolation – separation of
population by a barrier. Would these shrimp have been separated by a barrier 4
million years ago? Why or why not?
3. 4 million years ago, do you think there would have been fewer shrimp species or more
shrimp species around Panama than there are today? Explain your answer.
4. What other animal (that you have already studied on your voyage) diverged into many
similar-looking species as a result of speciation?
http://mset.rst2.edu/portfolios/t/tiboldo_c/ToolsVis/ToolsVisWeb/FinalProject/Introduction.htm
St. Helena:
READ THIS!!! There are two types of natural selection affecting the male guppy
population – sexual selection and non-sexual. In sexual selection, the females select
particular traits in the males.
1. How do the male guppies look different than the female guppies?
2. What traits do you think the female guppies are selecting for in the male guppies?
3. Which traits does sexual selection select for in male guppies?
4. Run the simulation. This shows how predation affects the guppies. Which guppies
are best equipped to survive predation—the drab ones or the bright ones?
5. Which traits does natural selection due to predation select forin male guppies?
6. Why do you think that there are both drab and brightly-colored male guppies?
Conclusion:
On a single sheet of 8 ½ x 11 blank paper, you will illustrate two organisms of the same
species that will express what you have learned about natural selection and how it
determines which individuals will survive long enough in their environment to successfully
pass their traits on to their offspring (in other words, reproduce). Your illustration must be
colored, and you must provide captions explaining how the mutations are beneficial or
harmful.

Organism 1 has experienced a favorable mutation that would make it better suited
to its environment, enabling it to obtain food, reproduce and pass its genes on to
the next generation.

Organism 2 belongs to the same species, but was born with an unfavorable
mutation that would cause nature to select against it.