Toothpick Fish Lab

     In science class, we did a lab called Toothpick Fish. We had do make a total of four generations. During the first generation, eleven fish ended up being safe in the environment. Sadly, all the yellow fish were not and would be sent to the morgue if they were in the first thru third generation. In total, there were seven green fish, zero red fish, one yellow fish, and four orange fish. Then, came the second generation. Green decreased by one fish so there were six green fish. Red increased and had two red fish. There were no yellow fish because of the decrease of alleles. Orange increased and had three fish. When the third generation came along there were seven green fish, one red fish, one yellow fish that was sent to the morgue, and two orange fish. Lastly, there was the fourth generation. There was a slight twist during this generation. All the yellow, red, and orange fish were safe in the environment, but the green fish was not because now it could not camouflage. This was unfortunate because the green alleles were dominant over any other alleles. So, there were five green fish that were sent to the morgue, two red fish, one yellow fish, and two orange fish. So, the fourth generation only had five survivors.

     Overall, the population between all the generations has changed. It went from being eleven healthy fish to only five. The green alleles disappeared entirely. Even though the class only did this as a class project with colored toothpicks, it does happen in the wild. Different species decrease or increase in size due to what happens in their environment. There could have been many outcomes if we changed the lab. There would be a possible chance of the population growing or the fish becoming extinct in the end. It all depends on the different changes you make and when they are made. For example, if their habitat was fine and the fish continuously reproduced, the population would continue to grow. Or, if the food for the fish stopped growing or if the food ran out the fish would start dieing off and could eventually become extinct. Also, if you went through more generations than just four, you would be able to see if the population increased or decreased. Everything we did for this lab happens in the real world with all different types of species.