Did you ever realize how random evolution really is? Well, a group of our Teen Innovation Ambassadors this summer made it their mission to showcase this exact topic. They soon realized there was no better tool to demonstrate evolution than… Plinko… Hold on, let us explain this will all make a lot more sense in a few minutes. When you drop the Plinko ball down the gameboard, there is a really wide variety of traits the plant could evolve- it is truly random as to which trait is picked. There are some human elements that can narrow down the choices so that plants evolve with certain desirable traits. These human elements are selective breeding and genetic modifications (also known as GMOs). See what the difference between these two are and learn how this all ties into the evolution of traits by watching the full Science Sunday segment below.
There is so much more Science Sunday to explore. Check out the full gallery of segments on our blog: https://ctsciencecenter.org/blog_categories/science-sunday/.
Aoife Ryle is a STEM Educator at the Connecticut Science Center. In addition to working with school groups, she works with our Teen Program, Overnights department, and shoots weekly science segments for WFSB. She has a degree in Bioengineering from the University of Maine and has a personal interest in the life sciences and engineering which makes bioengineering a perfect crossover.
Mark Dixon is a meteorologist on WFSB Channel 3 Eyewitness News and a host of the weekly Science Sunday segments with the Connecticut Science Center. He has been nominated for several Emmy awards for weather anchoring and has won awards from the Connecticut Associated Press Broadcaster’s Association and the American Meteorological Society.
