The Galapagos Finches |
The Galapagos Finches program, one of the Biology Guided Inquiry Learning Environments (BGuILE), is used in the core activity of the Struggle for Survival curriculum unit. Struggle for Survival is an ecosystems and natural selection unit for sixth- and seventh-graders. The unit revolves around an ecological crisis in the Galapagos in which finches died at an unusual rate. This software helps students understand the crisis and why some finches survived the crisis and some did not. |
| The database in the Galapagos Finches program includes environmental, behavioral, and physical information along with information from actual scientific studies. Students use three activity screens to conduct their investigations: |
 | The software’s Main Question screen frames the research question. It includes a video in English or Spanish that gives students the background information they need to begin their investigation. From the Main Question screen, students can go to a Data Query screen or a Data Log screen. Click on the thumbnail to see the full screen. |
 | On The Data Query screen, students narrow their searches to access specific data. They can gather information on the island’s environment, on the finch population as a whole, and on individual finches. Students can also access simulated field notes from researchers who have studied the finches’ behavior for many years. Click on the thumbnail to see the full screen. |
Finally, using the Data Log, students organize and analyze the information they have collected. They can create graphs, view multiple data types at the same time, sort data by date or category, and compare and contrast data from different sets. |
| As used in the Struggle for Survival curriculum, The Galapagos Finches learning environment lets students explore the causes behind the dramatic decline in a population of Galapagos finches and explain what trait variation enabled some birds to survive during a drought in 1977. |
| The computer environment focuses students on the strategies of biological investigations. A timeline helps them compare observations across time. Behavioral information, crucial to understanding this problem, is accessible through the simulated field notes. Using a relationship “constructor,” students can illustrate the connections between the behavioral and environmental factors that may have contributed to the birds’ demise. Using an explanation construction tool, students develop and refine their hypotheses. |
TechSpecs
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