MOULTRIE, Ga. — Students in Lee Causey’s Accelerated Biology classes at C.A. Gray Junior High School participated in an activity to represent the effects of natural selection on a population of organisms with genetic variations.

In small groups, students played the role of birds with different beak phenotypes and “ate” using their beaks that were represented with toothpicks, plastic forks, spoons, and knives. Using marshmallows and dried beans as the birds’ food sources, students were able to observe the effects that changes in food sources would have on birds with specific beak types.

Students collected and analyzed data from each trial and concluded that even slight changes in organisms’ environments can have dramatic effects on the populations due to genetic variations.