Understanding Natural Selection On A Population Of Bead Bugs

Topics:	Natural Selection
Words:	579
Page:	1 This essay sample was donated by a student to help the academic community. Papers provided by EduBirdie writers usually outdo students' samples.

Cite this essay

Download

Introduction

Natural Selection has a great effect on species in different environments. Different species can inherit mutations, some may be good, and some may be bad for the individual(McGraw-Hill Ryerson. 2010). It is also the reason for evolution(Grabianowski, 2018). Natural Selection is the leading factor in deciding which species will live and reproduce, and which ones will die out(Brain, 2019). This lab will simulate the effects of Natural Selection on a population of bead bugs. The dependent variable is the generations of the beads, and the independent variable is the total # of beads after the selection.

Background

To discover the process of Natural Selection on a population of bead bugs.

Save your time!
We can take care of your essay

Proper editing and formatting
Free revision, title page, and bibliography
Flexible prices and money-back guarantee

Place Order

Based on reading this graph/table, we can see that the Yellow bead population survived most of its generations. Only in the third generation, something happened, and the Yellow bead population did not do so well in camouflaging. The beads that were mutated were easily distinctable, making the bird predators catch them more. To conclude, mutations in an environment are at a high risk of getting eaten by a predator. Natural Selection is the leading factor in determining which mutated organisms will continue to thrive, or fall short.

The colour we chose to use for our habitat was Yellow. For colour #1, we used Yellow, for colour #2, we used blue, for colour #3, we used Black, and for colour #4, we used White.
Referring to the observation results, the environmental conditions did indeed affect the kind of mutation that survived. The evidence showing this is the fact that we randomly picked out the beads, and the colour yellow was hidden from our eyes, because it blended in with the environment; it was camouflaged. This colour would not be adaptive in different environments because different environments have different colours.
The selective pressure were the mutations, because they turned the beads into a different colour thus, allowing certain traits to be expressed. Selective pressure depends on the environment that an organism lives in(Gregory 2009).
A beneficial mutation that would help the predator catch more bead bugs is that the bead bugs with the mutation changed colour, it would be more visible for the predator to catch. A negative mutation that would hinder the bead bug population is that if the mutation started turning every bead bug into a different colour, since it would be more visible to predators.

Conclusion

Based on this investigation, the population of bead bugs slowly decreased due to the process of Natural Selection, and the mutations of bead bugs did increase, due to Natural Selection. To conclude, Natural Selection is so that species can adapt to different traits to allow them to survive better than other species. There are other key environmental factors that drive Natural Selection, such as selective pressure, mutations, variations...etc. Mutations are supposed to be favorable. Mutations are supposed to help organisms in an environment survive. In this simulation, it was the yellow beads surviving better than the rest of the beads in the yellow environment because it was camouflaged into the yellow environment.

Works Cited

Dunlop, J., Francis, L., Gaspar, P., Gibbons, K., Grace, E., Mills, A., Searle, S. (2010) Biology 11 (Hardcover ed.) Canada, McGraw-Hill Ryerson.
Gregory, T. R. (2009, April 9). Understanding Natural Selection: Essential Concepts
andCommon Misconceptions. Retrieved from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12052-009-0128-1.
Grabianowski, E. (2018, March 8). How Natural Selection Works. Retrieved from https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/evolution/natural-selection.htm.
Brain, M. (2019, April 6). How Evolution Works. Retrieved from https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/evolution/evolution6.htm.

Cite this paper

Understanding Natural Selection On A Population Of Bead Bugs. (2022, February 17). Edubirdie. Retrieved April 19, 2024, from https://edubirdie.com/examples/understanding-natural-selection-on-a-population-of-bead-bugs/

“Understanding Natural Selection On A Population Of Bead Bugs.” Edubirdie, 17 Feb. 2022, edubirdie.com/examples/understanding-natural-selection-on-a-population-of-bead-bugs/

Understanding Natural Selection On A Population Of Bead Bugs. [online]. Available at: <https://edubirdie.com/examples/understanding-natural-selection-on-a-population-of-bead-bugs/> [Accessed 19 Apr. 2024].

Understanding Natural Selection On A Population Of Bead Bugs [Internet]. Edubirdie. 2022 Feb 17 [cited 2024 Apr 19]. Available from: https://edubirdie.com/examples/understanding-natural-selection-on-a-population-of-bead-bugs/

copy