Natural selection with the peppered moth
Simulation
You are a time-traveling hungry bird feeding on peppered moths (delicious).
Compare your hunting skills before and after the industrial revolution.
Instructions
Click "Hunt" in the clean environment.
Hunt (click on) as many moths as you can before the timer runs out.
Click "Hunt" in the polluted environment.
Discussion questions
How did the environment, in this case color of the tree's bark, affect which moths you ate?
What effect will your answer to the above have on the moth population over time?
Details
NGSS
- DCI | LS4.C: Adaptation by natural selection acting over generations is one important process by which species change over time in response to changes in environmental conditions. Traits that support successful survival and reproduction in the new environment become more common; those that do not become less common. Thus, the distribution of traits in a population changes.
Learning Objectives
Understand how changes in an environment can affect natural selection.
Concepts
Evolution
Natural Selection
Adaptation
