What We Did
Each group was given a container full of various hardware materials. We then had to figure out how to organize our materials in a way to show their evolution. We then came up with a story explaining the evolution of the hardware we had. In order to do this we gave each species that we created a name. We had to put them in an order that made sense when we can up with our story.
Final Product
Our Story
Back in the year 3000 BM (Before Metal), there was a species made of plastic called Plastic Metallum Vertical, which later inherited other traits including different colors (grey and white), different shapes (more rigid surface or sharper tip), and got rid of the metal. In the year 3104 APBSBM (After Plastic But Still Before Metal), the trait of plastic quickly died out and got replaced with rubber, along with the new common trait of curving somewhere. The new species Metallum Flexilis, was a circular piece of metal with rubber attached on the bottom. Unfortunately, the environment made rubber a disadvantageous trait, causing the following species to only be metal. After a random mutation of a flat piece of metal with waves (which died out quickly), the new common trait among species seemed to be circular. Many species arose and died out, including having a hexagonal shape with a circle inside or having a dome on top of the circle. One mutation allowed for the species to have wings, but they were too heavy so they couldn’t fly and the useless trait died out. The following mutation, in 3587 DM (During Metal), inherited a question mark shape that was disadvantageous. But the question mark shape sparked a new common ancestor of the next species: having a head. These species had two types of heads, plus heads and minus heads. They developed the two different characteristics by reproductive isolation because they would only mate with another if they had the same head. Apparently, the minus head trait was disadvantageous, as it died out. But the plus head trait carried on and inherited the trait of having a point. The year 3917 DMWHAP (During Metal With Head And Point) was when species with round heads, rigid surfaces, and points ruled the world. There were several variations of the species (like different colors and materials), but they were still very closely related. After another drastic change in the metal world environment, having a rigid surface became useless, so the species transitioned into a smooth surface. The year 4023 ARS (After Rigid Surfaces) was when the Metallum Id Aggressus Sum existed with a big head, small tip, and smooth surface. Over time, the species developed a longer tip and smaller head, until the final species Metallum Planus Torquent with the most advantageous traits and lived forever.
Concepts
- Cladogram- a branching diagram showing the relationship between different of species
- Taxonomic Classification- a ranking which shows how closely related organisms are to each other
- Kingdom- biggest taxonomic group
- Phylum-breaks down kingdom into smaller parts
- Class- in between a phylum and order. You can also have a subclass.
- Order-A classification on organisms based on their nomenclature codes.
- Family- may have subfamilies. Often named after a common member, for example the walnut and hickory tree are part of the walnut family.
- Genus- this is between family and species. The first part of an organism's scientific name is it's genus.
- Species-this is the last taxonomic rank. Organisms that share a species are capable of interbreeding or exchanging genes.
- Evolution- the process of organisms changing over time so that they are better suited for their environment.
- Adaption- a genetic mutation that is advantageous to to an organism, which allows them to survive and pass their traits to their offspring.
Reflection
This project was difficult in the sense that our work time was very spread out so whenever we stated on the project we had to refresh ourselves to what we were actually doing. Also, not all the instructions were clear so our group ended up re- staring our project with a a day or two to finish. I thought it was a really cool idea to learn about cladograms like this instead of just studying them since we got to be creative.