Hunger Games Lab

1. We did a lab that simulated evolution in a population by having everybody in the class divide evenly into three different genotypes(AA, Aa, and aa). We than had everyone stand in a big circle, and corks would be spread out in the middle. We would then go and pick up as many corks as we could. AA could only grab corks with their wrist                                    Aa could only grab corks between their 1st and 2nd fingers.  aa could only grab between their thumb and first fingers   Once all the corks had been picked up we would count how many we had, and if we got enough we could reproduce, and then it would repeat. 
2. The phenotype for picking up food between the thumb and first finger was the the best, because it could pick up the corks the fastest, and the most easily.
3. The populations evolved. We know the because the allele frequency changed. The initial frequency was roughly equal, with a at 48%, and A at 52%. The a:A ratio got to 73% : 27% in one round, but ended at 60% : 40%
                      
4. There were several things that were random in this lab such as the distribution of food, what offspring were produced by flipping the coin, and how aggressive people were in getting the food. The way people were required to pickup the food was non random. The random distribution of food, and the different levels of aggression resulted in some  people survived better based on luck, and not based on their phenotype.
5. The result would have been similar if the food had been smaller. The knucklers, and stumpys would have done worse, bet the pincher would still do the same. If the food had been bigger, then the knucklers, and pinchers would die off because they couldn't pick it up. That would represent a change in the available food supply.
6. If there was no incomplete dominance, then the knucklers would not exist, and the pinchers would be the most common, and the stupmys would still pop up occasionally, but it would be Mose difficult, and the allele would eventually disappear altogether.
7. Natal selection is the mechanism that allows evolution to happen. Without natural selection, then evolution would be completely random, there would be evolution, but it would be only due to sexual selection, genetic drift, and gene flow.
8. Some people were more aggressive, or used their hoods to store corks. This allowed them to do better. and increase their likelihood of reproducing. This made their allele(s) slightly more common, and this is similar to hen some animals are smarter that others, but it is not a genetic factor.
9. In evolution the population evolves. The individuals either die or survive, but the allele frequency of the population changes. Natural selection acts on the phenotype, but the genotype also changes, because the phenotype is what determines whether or not an organism survives, and the phenotype is determined by the genotype so that also has to change.
10. I still wornder why the knuckler did the best.