Exploring Ecosystems: Interactive Lab Teaches Students About Adaption & Survival

By stepping into the world of hungry birds, students discovered the power of survival strategies and the intricate dance of adaptation that takes place in nature. 

During their recent ecosystem unit, students in Tom Lupton's Grade 7 science class dove into the world of animals by playing the role of hungry birds. In this hands-on activity, students experienced how competition for food can lead to various adaptations and behaviors in the animal kingdom.

Students Use “Their” Beaks During Interactive Lab

Using three various tools - tweezers, binder clips, and clothes pegs, to emulate various types of bird beaks, the students practiced gathering types of "food" within a set time limit. 

Adaption in Action 

With rubber bands as worms, beans as fruits, and rice grains symbolizing seeds, students observed how different beak shapes could be more effective in gathering specific food types, learning that over many generations, birds with varied beak shapes emerged to access the diverse food sources available in their ecosystems.

Through this creative interactive lab, students in Mr. Lupton's Grade 7 Science class now have a better understanding of the intricate connections between living creatures and their environments and the power of natural selection and evolution.