Hunger Games Lab

1. In the Hunger Games lab, we portrayed a population trying to survive, and we stimulated competition and natural selection. There were 3 genotypes with its corresponding phenotype that were shown in this lab: “AA” for Stumpys where they could only pick up food with their wrists, “Aa” for Knucklers where they could only pick up food between the second knuckles of their index and middle fingers, and “aa” for Pinchers where they could only pick up food between their thumb and fingers. Each of the individuals in the populations was either a Stumpy or a Knuckler or a Pincher, and their goal was to survive and reproduce, stimulating a real world population.
2. The Pinchers were the best at capturing food because of luck and because they had the most favorable phenotype as they were able to carry more food between their thumb and fingers compared to Stumpys who could only pick up food with their wrists and the Knucklers who could only pick up food between their index and middle fingers.
3. The population evolved as evidenced by the change in allele frequency in favor of the “a” allele. The population started off at an allele frequency of 0.5 for both the “A” allele and the “a” allele. However as shown by the data, for every generation that followed, the allele frequency for the “A” allele started decreasing and the frequency for the “a” allele was increasing to the point where the population started looking more like winners, or the “a” allele.
4. Similar to a real environment, there was an element of randomness. The food placement was random. It was either scattered or clumped up in a corner and the individuals that were closest ended up getting more food, showing a genetic drift. However, the non-random element was the distribution of phenotypes throughout the population and making a 0.5 to 0.5 allele frequency at the beginning of the lab. Starting at that even ratio just made it easier to observe the evolution that occurred. In addition, the mating process wasn’t random as most people mated with people they thought would give them the best results, leaving fewer people to mate with the Stumpys and ultimately reducing its population size by a great deal.
5. If the food had been smaller, the Knucklers and the Pinchers would have thrived because they would have been able to pick up more pieces of food, but the Stumpys would have struggled even more because the smaller the food gets, the harder it is for the Stumpys to even pick up the food. However if the food was bigger, both the Knucklers and Pinchers would have struggled because the bigger the food is, the harder it is for it to fit between the knuckles or the thumb and index finger. But, the Stumpys would have thrived if the food was bigger because it makes it easier for them to pick up.
6. If there wasn’t any incomplete dominance, there wouldn’t have been any Knucklers at all. There would be 2 extremes that would battle for survival, and since only the fittest survive, the other phenotype would completely die off, leaving the best one to dominate over everything.
7. Natural selection causes evolution. Natural selection is when nature chooses which traits or phenotypes the individual will keep and which ones will die off, based on whichever ones helps them survive and reproduce the best. Evolution is the change in allele frequency, and since natural selection chooses the phenotypes the individual will keep, natural selection causes evolution.
8. The Pinchers, Knucklers, and Stumpys all started to figure out what helped them get the most food. They all, except for Stumpys, started to pick up multiple pieces of food at a time instead of one at a time, increasing their allele frequency. This increased the gap between the Stumpys and the rest of the phenotypes.
9. In evolution, the population evolves. The less desirable traits are taken out and the winner traits or the desirable traits dominate the population. Natural selection acts on both the phenotypes and genotypes. Natural selection causes the change in allele frequency, which in turn affects the phenotype.
10. This lab truly explained to me what evolution is and how it is applied in a realistic setting, which is why I don't have any questions.