Survival of the fittest By the end of this lesson you should be able to: explain how adaptations help you survive explain that only the fittest survive show how an animal died out and think about what it needed to survive

Who’s the dude on the £10 note? I sailed to the Galapagos Islands. My ship was the Beagle and my theories have led to controversy! Beagle Finch Galapagos

Evolution

Evolution is... ... how plants and animals have adapted to survive in their environment over many years. This may mean that the way they look or behave has changed to help them suit their environment better.

What kind of environment is this animal adapted for? What if the seas dried up?

This bird eats fruit, what if there was a drought?

In Winter what will happen to the 2 squirrels? Find nuts in autumn and hide them so that they can eat them over the winter. 2 squirrels…. Squirrel B – good at finding Nuts but a poor memory so Forgets where nuts are buried. Squirrel A – good at finding Nuts and good memory to remember Where they were buried

What happens next? Squirrel A (good memory) survives through the winter and breeds with another squirrel. All offspring have good memories so over time all squirrels in the population end up with good memories. Squirrel B (bad memory) forgets where nuts are buried so starves to death over the winter. does not reproduce, genes are lost forever.

Charles Darwin (1809 – 1882) Studied medicine at Edinburgh University, however hated sight of blood! Invited 1831 to become a naturist on the survey ship The Beagle 5 years Galapagos islands Collected and observed everything around him

Finches, 13 species, all adapted to different environments based on food

Finches

WHAT WAS DARWINS THEORY? 1. Variation in species 2. Far too many young are produced so there is a competition for food water and those best adapted will survive ‘survival of the fittest’

WHAT WAS DARWINS THEORY? 3. Those that survive pass on genes (in nucleus) 4. Over millions of years it may lead to a new species. Less adapted may become extinct 5. Sometimes mutations (change in the DNA can occur…can be advantage or disadvantage)

Evolution of the blob game! YOU ARE A BLOB. YOU WILL SLOWLY EVOLVE. LETS SEE IF YOU SURVIVE

Your environment has changed... Either:- Flap your arms to represent wings Wave a fin over your head to swim Stamp your feet to represent speed

YOUR ENVRONMENT WAS THE OCEAN. ALL THE FINS SURVIVE YOUR ENVRONMENT WAS THE OCEAN. ALL THE FINS SURVIVE. YOU ARE NOW A BLOB WITH FINS

Your environment has changed.... Choose a colour you want to be:- GREEN YELLOW BLUE

THE ENVIRONMENT WAS SEAWEED THE ENVIRONMENT WAS SEAWEED. IF YOU ARE GREEN YOU SURVIVED DUE TO YOUR CAMOUFLAGE

Your environment has changed... Either Make goggles with your hands to represent excellent vision Pull your cheeks to represent sense of vibrations Cup your ears to represent great hearing

YOUR ENVIRONMENT IS THE SEABED YOUR ENVIRONMENT IS THE SEABED! EVERYONE WITH GOGGLES SIT DOWN AS YOU WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO SEE DOWN THERE... VIBRATIONS AND HEARING WOULD SURVIVE.. WELL DONE YOU SURVIVED!!

The Dodo was 1 metre tall and ate seeds and fruit Why do you think the dodo became extinct? Discuss… “Dead as a Dodo”

The Dodo’s story… In the year 1598 AD, Portuguese sailors landing on the shores of the island of Mauritius discovered a previously unknown species of bird, the Dodo.

Having been isolated by its island location from contact with humanity, the dodo greeted the new visitors with a child-like innocence. The sailors mistook the gentle spirit of the dodo, and its lack of fear of the new predators, as stupidity. They dubbed the bird "dodo" (meaning something similar to a simpleton in the Portuguese tongue).

Many dodo were killed by the human visitors, and those that survived man had to face the introduced animals. Dogs and pigs soon became wild when introduced to the Mauritian eco-system. By the year 1681, the last dodo had died.

The Dodo The dodo was a large flightless bird that lived on Mauritius, an island in the Indian Ocean. The island was uninhabited and the dodo had no natural predators. Then Mauritius was colonised by the Dutch in 1638. Dodos were hunted for food and easy to catch because they were not afraid of people. New competitors were brought onto the island, including pigs, cats and rats, which ate the dodos' eggs and their young. Within 80 years, the dodo was extinct

Task Produce a cartoon strip of the Dodo’s story. Include: All dead by 1681, Produce a cartoon strip of the Dodo’s story. Include: Why the Dodo was OK before the Portuguese arrived? Why the Dodo was not scared of predators? What happened to make the Dodo poorly adapted to its environment? What could the Dodo have done to ensure it survived?