Arwa's+Bean+Pass+Average

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– 1. How does the number of beans being passed change as your finger combinations change?

In my first bean pass, I used my thumb and my index finger. My partner and I made 90 passes. This was easy because we used our thumb so we had more control when passing. In the second trial, I used my thumb and my middle finger. In this trial we made 131 passes. The amount of passes increased since the fist combination. The rate of speed in this combination was faster than the first and that's why we made more passes. During the third trial, we used our thumbs and our pinkies. The amount of passes made by my partner and I was 114 passes. As you can see, the number of passes decreased since the second trial. For the fourth trial, I used my middle finger and ring finger.In this trail, we made 64 passes. The amount of passes decreased intensely. This was because we no longer could use our thumbs which made holding on to the bean challenging. During the trail, we dropped the bean once which could of effected the final amount of passes in the trial. For the fifth trial, we had to use our index finger and pinkie to pass the bean. The amount of passes for the fifth trial were 40 passes. This trial was the hardest because in order to pass the bean using your index finger and pinkie you had to pass by the middle and ring finger which caused tension in your fingers. The amount of passes in this trial, was the smallest number in all six trials. We also dropped the bean in this trial about 2 times because everytime the bean came to you, it slide because it was placed on your nail. And the final trial, trial six, you had to use middle finger and your ring finger. For this trial, we made 65 passes because it was dropped a few times because the bean slipped off our nail. Also because we didn't stay at a constant rate when it came to the timing. To conclude, the first three trials were easier because our thumb __was__ included in the combination. But, when it came to the last three trials, it became difficult because our thumb __wasn't__ included, so it made it harder to handle holding and passing the bean.

2. What are some conclusions you can develop from looking at this data?

Humans were born with thumbs, and grew up learning how to handle objects with thumbs. So when we go out of our natural adaptation (using thumbs) it’s difficult to adjust to the change. So from trial’s 1-3 it was easy because our thumb was included in the combination. But, for trials 4-6, it became difficult because these trials didn’t include thumbs, so we went out of our natural habit of using thumbs, and tried not to use our thumbs. For example, if I write with my right hand naturally, and then my teacher told me to write with my left hand it would be difficult because I ‘m adapted to using my right hand and not my left hand. It would also take a longer time because of me controlling my hand to write with my left. This is similar to the thumb trials.

3. What might 2 or 3 sources of error that occurred during this experiment?

One source of error that occurred in this experiment was dropping the bean. If we dropped the bean, we would have to start over which would affect the final number of passes. For example, for the sixth trial we made 65 trials because we dropped the bean. Another source of error is because of your reflexes. In some of the trials I would be using the fingers in the combination, and then my reflexes would make me use my thumbs. And another source of error is the constant rate of time. In each trial, we had a different rate for time. In some of the trials we went quickly, some slow, and some at a medium rate. So the constant rate of time affected the amount of passes we made.

4. HOW DOES THIS LAB DEMONSTRATE “ADAPTATIONS”?

This lab demonstrates adaptations because having opposable thumbs is an adaptation that humans and primates have. Adaptations can either be physical (a part of the body) or a behavior an organism has developed. And using opposable thumbs is an adaptation that humans have developed over time. An opposable thumb is a physical // adaptation //. They are called opposable because the thumb can be moved around to touch the other fingers, which gives humans the ability to grasp things. Opposable thumbs help humans operate tools to make use of resources in our environment. In this experiment we used our opposable thumbs to handle holding the bean and passing it back and forth with our partner.

       