Science Institute
Mrs. Speirs

NAME _____________________________________________________

DIRECTIONS: Read the following section from an article. Respond to the question below. Be sure that your answer supports, explains, and details your ideas.

THE MIND OF A CANARY

We don’t know yet what birds are thinking. Getting inside a bird’s head no longer seems impossible. David Clayton and his colleagues have discovered one of the first things that happens in a canary’s brain when it hears another canary sing. Its all about genes and protein synthesis.

Researchers isolated two adult male canaries in individual cages. One bird heard a 45-minute tape recording of canary songs. The other bird sat in silence. The experiment was repeated several times and with different birds. Immediately following each experiment, the researchers examined slices of brain tissue from the birds. They found that the canaries that had listened to canary songs had ten times more of the appropriate messenger RNA in their brains than other canaries did. The RNA was found in the forebrain, an area known to be involved in forming auditory associations.

QUESTION:

How do you explain, in terms of protein synthesis, that the mRNA was ten times greater in canaries hearing canary songs than in the canaries sitting in silence? Support your answer. [HINT: Begin your ideas with- "When a canary’s brain hears a canary song, a certain gene…"]

INQUIRY:
Using the information from the reading, fiill in the following graphic organizer (HINT: speculate)!