This week, KTS evolution detectives got to know the young Charles Darwin and learned of his five-year long voyage on the Beagle. They, like Darwin, encountered the finches in the Galapagos islands and uncovered the third clue! Living things are adapted to their environment.
In the Galapagos Islands, Darwin observed that each of the islands had different types of finches, iguanas, and tortoises, each making the most of the local conditions.
In today's activity, KTS detectives explored the fit between the features of a bird's beak and the food it eats. They were tasked with using information about the beaks of a few of the Galapagos finches and the food available on each island to predict which finches will live on which islands.
What did they learn?
There’s a fit between organisms and the environments where they live: The shape of a bird's beak corresponds to the food it eats, skin pattern and colors match those of the environment where an animal lives, desert plants store water in their leaves and stems... and there are many, many more examples!
What are those beneficial traits called? ADAPTATIONS!
Some animal and plant adaptations are familiar, for example camouflage. Can you spot the animal camouflaged in this picture? KTS kids did!
