Gizmo Natural Selection Lab
https://gizmos.explorelearning.com/
Introduction: Before the 19th century in England, the air was very clean. The bark on trees was usually light in color. Abundant lichens growing on tree trunks also lightened their appearance.
Question: How does the color of a peppered moth affect survival?
Analyze: What do your results show?
Apply: Which type of moth do you think was more common before the 19th century, when most trees were light in color?
Extend your thinking: What strategies did you use to hunt for moths?
Introduction: The 19th century was the time of the Industrial Revolution in England. Most of the new industries used coal for energy, and the air was polluted with black soot. In forests near factories, the soot coated trees and killed lichens. As a result, tree trunks became darker.
Question: How did air pollution affect moth populations?
Analyze: What do your results show?
Apply: Which type of moth do you think was more common during the 19th century when most trees were dark in color? Why?
Draw conclusions: Natural selection is the process by which favorable traits tend to increase in frequency over time. How does this experiment illustrate natural selection?
Think and discuss: Did the changes you observed in the moth populations result from individual moths changing colors? Or did they occur because the best-hidden moths survived and reproduced, passing on their colors to their offspring? Explain your answer.
Extend your thinking: Biological evolution is the process by which populations of organisms change over time. How could natural selection lead to evolution?
Explain.