natural selection simulation activity

This simulation gives students an opportunity to observe and describe how the increase in number of bunnies (“add a friend” in the simulation starts the bunnies reproducing), genetic variation of individual bunnies (click on mutation in the simulation and then observe the phenotype of the bunnies populating the environment), competition for food and predation by wolves leads to the proliferation of those bunnies that are better able to survive in the environment. All phenotypes have gone extinct. While there are many other changes that could be occuring in the environment and the bird populations, they are not shown in this simulation. The simulation starts you off with only one bunny. When you “add a friend”, the two bunnies will start to reproduce. Students participate in trials using different utensils, recording the results of their trials and reflecting on these results. The second section includes a simulation activity, data analysis, and questions to deepen students' understanding of natural selection, including the conditions that are required for natural selection to occur. Teachers should embed this simulation into their instructional sequence where they feel it best fits. Menu. Explain what “selection” factors were lacking for this to occur. You have one minute to eat as many moths as you can. PhET Simulation - YouTube • Add the (natural) selection factor* of wolves after F3 offspring appear. Due to harsh conditions food becomes limited. The simulation output includes a chart with the population of bunnies (number of bunnies) on the y-axis, plotted against time on the x-axis. Battle of the Beaks- This lab is always a hit! This review is limited to reviewing the PHET natural selection simulation, and not any of the lesson plans from outside authors. Due to harsh conditions food becomes limited. Scavenger Hunt: Simulating Natural Selection. Construct an explanation based on evidence that the process of evolution primarily results from four factors: (1) the potential for a species to increase in number, (2) the heritable genetic variation of individuals in a species due to mutation and sexual reproduction, (3) competition for limited resources, and (4) the proliferation of those organisms that are better able to survive and reproduce in the environment. SEPUP Simulation: Natural Selection. Light Forest. You save the state of your simulation and restore it within 30 days. Teachers should make sure that students do not just “play” with the simulation, or just “observe” what happens. • The teacher can provide a question for the students to investigate, or students can develop their own question. Procedure Fill the shallow pan half way with white rice. An example question to investigate with the simulation found in the Cottontail lesson plan is: “A population of short-toothed and long-toothed bunnies is living in the Arctic. Depending on where in the unit teachers are when using this simulation, the following directions and prompts can be helpful in supporting students to make progress toward meeting the Performance Expectation. Teachers need to select appropriate pedagogical strategies from their own repertoire to encourage students to express their thinking and present their ideas to others for peer and teacher feedback as they are working through the simulation. An example question to investigate with the simulation found in the Cottontail lesson plan is: “A population of short-toothed and long-toothed bunnies is living in the Arctic. The theory of natural selection was explored by 19th-century naturalist Charles Darwin. Discuss with your group which birds are more likely to be most fit and least fit in each new environment. Experiment B • Add a friend and a brown fur mutation to the bunny population. The traits that positively affect survival are more likely to be reproduced, and thus are more common in the population. In this simulation, students work in groups of three instead of following SEPUP’s 4-2-1 cooperative learning model. However, there are several lesson plans posted on the website. Peppered Moth Game. Using your knowledge of natural selection, explain how extinction occurs. The questions in the introductory section introduce students to the basic process of natural selection, including key … • What happens to the population sizes of the two phenotypes after several more generations? To help students learn, in a more concrete way, how natural selection operates, I came up with an activity that simulates evolution by natural selection. The simulation in the next part will stop every 50,000 years beginning at 500,000 years and ending at 1,000,000 years. It is the individual organism that … “Quakers and Cottontails” is published by the National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI). I have used this interactive in the past and it is very powerful. Follow the peppered moth’s life cycle from birth to death - all in one year! For example students should articulate that when a mutation occurs that provides individual bunnies with the advantage to blend into the background, they are more likely to not be eaten by the wolves, survive and reproduce, which over many generations leads to a higher proportion of bunnies with a fur color that blends into the background. Explain This part of the simulation represents 500,000 years. This illustrates for students that the differential survival and reproduction of bunnies in a population that are better camouflaged leads to an increase in the proportion of these bunnies in future generations and to a decrease in the proportion of bunnies that are not well camouflaged. Otherwise I would give it a 5. AlthoughDarwin was unaware of it, remarkable examples of evolution, which might havehelped to persuade people of his theory, were in the countryside of his nativeEngland. Watch a trait evolve and experiment with the effects of mutation rate and the strength of selection. There is a lesson option for this activity. This simulation gives students the opportunity to see what happens to the phenotypes of bunnies over several generations when manipulating selection factors. These questions/prompts are adapted from a related resource “Quakers and Cottontails” https://www.nms.org/Portals/0/Docs/FreeLessons/BIO_Quackers%20and%20Cottontails_web.pdf. Comments about Including the Crosscutting Concept Free access - The right to view and/or download material without financial, registration, or excessive advertising barriers. Choose plumage, body size, and beak traits for each bird. What happens to the population sizes of both phenotypes over the next 10 generations? Natural Selection Simulation. Observe and record on the Student Sheet the changes that have occurred in you assigned area. This resource appears to be designed to build towards this disciplinary core idea, though the resource developer has not explicitly stated so. Teachers should monitor for student understanding throughout the activity, and use some form of large-group share-out to make sure that all students are making progress toward the performance expectation. • Based on this evidence, students should write and share an evidence-based explanation that answers their question. Natural selection explains how genetic traits of a species may change over time. This includes a data sheet (in pdf format), discussion questions (pdf), and a student page. For many years biologists have used simulations as a tool for understanding ecological and evolutionary processes. What happens to the population sizes of both phenotypes over the next 10 generations? What happens if you never “add a friend?? Aug 13, 2017 - Natural selection is one of my favorite topics to teach. How does natural selection control the genetic diversity found in populations? Fortunately, with the help of a simulation we can study how natural selection works in a relatively short time. Natural Selection. Charles Darwin accumulated a tremendous collection of facts to support thetheory of evolution by natural selection. This activity shows all the steps of natural selection in entertaining style, but generates real simulation … In what ways did this activity model natural selec-tion well? Peppered Moth – An Activity in Natural Selection Peppered moths are common insects living in England, Europe and North America. The Cottontail portion uses the PHET simulations. • The teacher can provide a question for the students to investigate, or students can develop their own question. Teachers should keep in mind that simulations have benefits and limitations, and that is that important to not exclusively teach natural selection through simulation, but also use data sets from field work, or other real-life demonstrations. Select from these resources to teach your classroom about this subfield of evolutionary biology. This illustrates for students that the differential survival and reproduction of bunnies in a population that are better camouflaged leads to an increase in the proportion of these bunnies in future generations and to a decrease in the proportion of bunnies that are not well camouflaged. While students have not developed the model underlying the simulation, they can use it to investigate factors (the potential for a species to increase in number, the heritable genetic variation of individuals in a species due to mutation and sexual reproduction, competition for limited resources, and the proliferation of those organisms that are better able to survive and reproduce in the environment) that influence the process of evolution. • Start the simulation by clicking the “PLAY” button. As students are making sense of the phenomenon (proportion of different bunnies changing, depending on the variable in the simulations that students change), they are engaged in several practices as well as the crosscutting concept of cause and effect, as they are building their understanding of the disciplinary core idea. Learn how Dr. Kettlewell put natural selection to the test. Lab activities Physical natural selection simulation (Clipbirds) The Clipbirds simulation is based on a procedure developed by Janulaw and Scotchmoor ().Briefly, during three timed “seasons” students act as birds competing for … In this activity you worked with a model to simulate natural selection. Many aspects of the simulation are not explained or intuitive and there is no guidance for the teacher on how to support students. (If teachers are using the Quaker portion of the NMSI lesson plan as well, it is important to discuss the limitation of the Quaker simulation, so students do not walk away with misconceptions). Discuss with your group the changes that occurred and the reasons for the changes. Visit the Resources page for a Word document or the Google Drive for a fully digital format. • What variables are you able to manipulate in this simulation? The questions in the first section introduce students to the basic process of natural selection, including key concepts and vocabulary. Materials (most of these I leech from the dissecting equipment drawer). A hurricane has hit the island and some of your birds have been blown to three new areas! A bird, You will observe how phenotypes and number of birds, Predator Icon: If present, the size represents the, Population count (pink means it's declining), Resource Icons: The size represents the ability, With your group, discuss how the bird populations changed over the course of 500,000 years. Finally, students will be asked to create an cartoon, podcast or video to describe a real-life example of natural selection. In this minds-on, hands-on activity, students develop their understanding of natural selection by analyzing specific examples and carrying out a simulation. Using the Simulation to Investigate Natural Selection • The teacher can provide a question for the students to investigate, or students can develop their own question. The Cottontail portion uses the PHET simulations. At that time I had a pod of pc's and my students could use it. Natural Selection Simulation-BILL 2012 Adapted from an activity by Kim Foglia, Division Ave. HS, NYS Page 1 of 3 Activity: Natural Selection in a Butterfly Population Natural selection acts at the level of individuals. For example, pairs of students could prepare a presentation that includes the question they investigated, the evidence they collected when they ran the simulation, and their evidence-based explanation answering the question they asked. Work with your group to create the Northeast environment. How to Play. Watch a trait evolve and experiment with the effects of mutation rate and the strength of selection. Welcome to the Natural Selection Simulation! nonrandom selection of favorable traits, reproduction, genetic variation, and extinction. Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on using evidence to explain the influence each of the four factors has on number of organisms, behaviors, morphology, or physiology in terms of ability to compete for limited resources and subsequent survival of individuals and adaptation of species. You will explore how this population changes over time in the southwest. Were your ideas about the fitness of each phenotype you selected correct. Students get to simulate Darwin's finches by having different "beaks" (tweezers, clothespins, etc) and feeding on different foods. There is an option to introduce mutations, which causes bunnies with brown fur, long tail, or long teeth to appear. The simulation itself does not come with instructions or a lesson plan. Topics Covered: Natural selection, variation, adaptation, selective pressures, evolution, directional selection, stabilizing selection, disruptive/diversifying selection, fitness, etc. Teachers should spend considerable time working with the simulation prior to teaching students. Read The Beak of the Finch by Jonathan Weiner. In Primer‘s fifth video on evolution, Justin Helps creates a blender and python-powered natural selection simulation, testing for variations on food availability along with the creatures’ speed, sizes, and their ability to sense food. Record your ideas on the Student Sheet and explain your reasoning. Battle of the Beaks- This lab is always a hit! However, there are several lesson plans posted on the website. The Natural Selection Simulation App allows users to simulate natural selection on a population of bouncing balls, or individuals, right at their fingertips! For the past three years I have had a chromebook cart and my students have been unable to use it. And “The Chips Are Down” is yet another natural selection simulation. 3. a population of bunnies suited to survive and reproduce in the environment that students selected by manipulating the settings. Like most moths, Explain why you think this occurred? Do you have a suggestion for improving NGSS@NSTA? “ • Teacher should encourage students to plan their investigation (think about how to run the simulation, so that they can collect data that answers their question), create a data table to keep track of the number of individual bunnies with the two phenotypes in each generation, and graph their data for an additional visual representation. This resource appears to be designed to build towards this performance expectation, though the resource developer has not explicitly stated so. Explain why you think this occurred? Examples of evidence could include mathematical models such as simple distribution graphs and proportional reasoning. This simulation made a good visual to help better understand evo They would stop at a different year and explain changes and mu the species and their offspring. Emphasis is on using evidence to explain the influence each of the four factors has on number of organisms, behaviors, morphology, or physiology in terms of ability to compete for limited resources and subsequent survival of individuals and adaptation of species. Click on the link above to go to the Natural Selection simulation. Check out the worksheet that goes along with the game (courtesy of Mrs. Theresa Hartz) Check out another worksheet that goes along with the game, courtesy of Ms. Julie Olson! Natural Selection and Adaptations Adaptation Simulation This adaptation simulation from The Science Education for Public Understanding Department at UC Berkley is an amazing tool for teaching how organisms change over time and how those changes affect the population. This simulation supports instruction and learning for all students by providing students with the opportunity to control a simulation that models a real world scenario of bunnies with different physical characteristics surviving in different environments. There is an option to see a pedigree when the user clicks on an individual bunny moving within the environment (equator or arctic). Selection Simulation Activity: Natural selection. Assessment does not include other mechanisms of evolution, such as genetic drift, gene flow through migration, and co-evolution. Comments about Including the Performance Expectation Examples of evidence could include mathematical models such as simple distribution graphs and proportional reasoning. Empirical evidence is required to differentiate between cause and correlation and make claims about specific causes and effects. Natural Selection—Lesson 2.1—Activity 2 Reproduction in the Sim (continued) Parent color-trait level Parent color-trait level Offspring color-trait level Trial 1 Trial 2 Ostrilopes with adaptive traits: • Select and follow an ostrilope that blends into its … Overview - Students will model natural selection by using various utensils to "capture food" . They are small moths, only 1 ½ to 2 ½ inches across. Natural Selection is the scientific theory that organisms are more likely to pass on traits that increase chance of survival. One of his difficulties in demonstratingthe theory, however, was the lack of an example of evolution over a short periodof time, which could be observed as it was taking place in nature. What aspects of natural selection did the simulation not include? Take a moment and let us know what's on your mind. • What variables are you able to manipulate in this simulation? Teachers should explicitly probe for students’ understanding of this aspect during instruction. • Add a friend. Natural Selection In this simulation you will investigate populations of birds living on an island. The teacher should use questioning strategies to help students understand cause and effect relationships within this simulation. Teachers should monitor for student understanding throughout the activity, and use some form of large-group share-out to make sure that all students are making progress toward the performance expectation. Natural Selection Simulation-BILL 2012 Adapted from an activity by Kim Foglia, Division Ave. HS, NYS Page 1 of 3 Activity: Natural Selection in a Butterfly Population Natural selection acts at the level of individuals. Students should be working on this simulation with a partner, so they have the opportunity to discuss what they are observing, what questions they could be investigating with this simulation, how to display and analyze data, and how to write an evidence-based explanation answering their questions. Write a detailed report that illustrates the similarities between your simulation of natural selection in a bird Peppered Moth. Students often struggle with distinguishing what happens to the individual as opposed to the population over time when studying natural selection. Bags of beans (northern or lima) Trays for holding the beans; Clothespins; Plastic spoons, plastic forks, plastic knives a population of bunnies suited to survive and reproduce in the environment that students selected by manipulating the settings. Depending on where in the unit teachers are when using this simulation, the following directions and prompts can be helpful in supporting students to make progress toward meeting the Performance Expectation. Describe what happens to the bunnies this time. • Teacher should encourage students to plan their investigation (think about how to run the simulation, so that they can collect data that answers their question), create a data table to keep track of the number of individual bunnies with the two phenotypes in each generation, and graph their data for an additional visual representation. The user can also edit genes (select whether the mutation for fur color, tail length and teeth length is dominant or recessive). This simulation provides students with the opportunity to manipulate and explore the interaction of factors leading to evolution, and observe how natural selection leads to adaptation, an example of a cause and effect relationship. (If teachers are using the Quaker portion of the NMSI lesson plan as well, it is important to discuss the limitation of the Quaker simulation, so students do not walk away with misconceptions). 1. The simulation itself does not come with instructions or a lesson plan. New Game. 12. This review is limited to reviewing the PHET natural selection simulation, and not any of the lesson plans from outside authors. Teacher questioning and support of students is dependent on student background knowledge of the concept and their familiarity with simulations. Use of the simulation provides opportunities to address the practices of using a model, planning and carrying out investigations, and analyzing and interpreting data, as well as describing the cause and effect relationships that are part of the mechanisms of natural selection. The simulation provides students with the opportunity to visually observe how for example, changing the environment (arctic vs. equator) over time leads to a population dominated by bunnies that are well suited to survive in that environment. You will begin by selecting three birds that will represent phenotypes for several traits in one population that lives in the southwest portion of the island. In Primer‘s fifth video on evolution, Justin Helps creates a blender and python-powered natural selection simulation, testing for variations on food availability along with the creatures’ speed, sizes, and their ability to sense food. This review is limited to reviewing the PHET natural selection simulation, and not any of the lesson plans from outside authors. NOTE: I gave this 1 Star because this interactive CANNOT be used by students on chromebooks or iPads (unless they have a java emmulator)! Their light wings are “peppered” with small dark spots. Choose a forest for your experiment. Dark Forest. The teacher should use questioning strategies to help students understand cause and effect relationships within this simulation. For example students should articulate that when a mutation occurs that provides individual bunnies with the advantage to blend into the background, they are more likely to not be eaten by the wolves, survive and reproduce, which over many generations leads to a higher proportion of bunnies with a fur color that blends into the background. How to Play. This resource appears to be designed to build towards this crosscutting concept, though the resource developer has not explicitly stated so. This simulation gives students the opportunity to see what happens to the phenotypes of bunnies over several generations when manipulating selection factors. However, the teacher could easily implement the simulation in a way to monitor students’ progress. The simulation does not provide a method for monitoring student progress. Using the Simulation to Investigate Natural Selection They can run the simulation, controlling and changing variables, and analyze the data generated by the simulation (output graph). The simulation builds on students’ prior knowledge, as most students should be familiar with animals blending into the background to avoid being eaten by predators (wolves in this simulation). The simulation itself does not come with instructions or a lesson plan. What happens if you never “add a friend?? Find out how the peppered moth surprised naturalists in England. Predators of the peppered moth include flycatchers, nuthatches, and the European robin. This activity shows all the steps of natural selection in entertaining style, but generates real simulation data that can be exported or … Introduction to the Simulation Here is a list of my favorite natural selection and evolution activities: 1. Birds with traits that enhance their fitness are, Restore simulation from previous save point. These can be body structures, processes, or behaviors. Extension Activities: 1. Activity 1 Our Global Community Activity 2 Life in Other Countries Activity 3 Sustainability Case Studies Activity 4 Ecological Footprint Activity 5 Jaffrey City's Problem Activity 6 Jaffrey City's Master Plan Dr. Kettlewell. “Quakers and Cottontails” is published by the National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI). Activity 11 Natural Selection. • Teachers should make sure to include a discussion on the limitations of the simulation in comparison of what might happen in the real world when students share their evidence-based explanations. Please restart the activity and select more varied phenotype characteristics. In this simulation you will investigate populations of birds living on an island. These lesson plans are from authors independent of the authors of the simulation. HS-LS4-2 Construct an explanation based on evidence that the process of evolution primarily results from four factors: (1) the potential for a species to increase in number, (2) the heritable genetic variation of individuals in a species due to mutation and sexual reproduction, (3) competition for limited resources, and (4) the proliferation of those organisms that are better able to survive and reproduce in the environment. In this simulation, students take on the roles of crab-like predators that have variations in the shape of their "claws." • Based on this evidence, students should write and share an evidence-based explanation that answers their question. • Add a friend. Menu. A humorous but powerful tool for simulating evolution. This represents your environment. • What happens to the population sizes of the two phenotypes after several more generations? This simulation gives students an opportunity to observe and describe how the increase in number of bunnies (“add a friend” in the simulation starts the bunnies reproducing), genetic variation of individual bunnies (click on mutation in the simulation and then observe the phenotype of the bunnies populating the environment), competition for food and predation by wolves leads to the proliferation of those bunnies that are better able to survive in the environment. This lab provides a hands-on, visual activity … Explain what “selection” factors were lacking for this to occur. Natural Selection is the scientific theory that organisms are more likely to pass on traits that increase chance of survival. • Start the simulation by clicking the “PLAY” button. • Add the (natural) selection factor of food after F3 offspring appear. Using the Simulation to Investigate Natural Selection • The teacher can provide a question for the students to investigate, or students can develop their own question. Scientists must verify their ideas. Introduce the Hardy-Weinberg principle of gene frequency equilibrium with this “Breeding Bunnies” lab. However, there are several lesson plans posted on the website. PHeT needs to convert this one ASAP instead of converting another physics app. Click on the moth to eat it. 3 (3 reviews), 1 The functionality is directly related to learning about natural selection. A humorous but powerful tool for simulating evolution. Teachers should make sure that students do not just “play” with the simulation, or just “observe” what happens. NGSS Science and Engineering Practices: ... Repeat the simulation, but this time place the beans into a new environment composed of wild rice. Play Game. The Artificial Selection via Selective Breeding learning objective — based on NGSS and state standards — delivers improved student engagement and academic performance in your classroom, as demonstrated by research.. Scroll down for a preview of … 2. This interactive simulation allows students to explore natural selection in bunnies by controlling factors in the environment (equator or arctic environment), selection factors (wolves, food), and characteristics of the bunnies (fur color, tail length and teeth length). Guide the bird to the moths. The simulation provides students with the opportunity to visually observe how for example, changing the environment (arctic vs. equator) over time leads to a population dominated by bunnies that are well suited to survive in that environment. Reset the simulation and add the “long teeth” mutation to your bunnies and use “food” as your selection factor. This simulation provides students with the opportunity to manipulate and explore the interaction of factors leading to evolution, and observe how natural selection leads to adaptation, an example of a cause and effect relationship. These questions/prompts are adapted from a related resource “Quakers and Cottontails” https://www.nms.org/Portals/0/Docs/FreeLessons/BIO_Quackers%20and%20Cottontails_web.pdf. You will begin by selecting three birds that will represent phenotypes for several traits in one population that lives in the southwest portion of the island. In this activity you worked with a model to simulate natural select activity model natural selection well? Here is a list of my favorite natural selection and evolution activities: 1. This may lead to speciation, the formation of a distinct new species. One s… These lesson plans are from authors independent of the authors of the simulation. Teachers should explicitly probe for students’ understanding of this aspect during instruction. Natural Selection Activity.docx - Exploration Bunnies are taking over the world Introduction In 1778 the First Fleet a group of English citizens arrived. Natural Selection. The other two environments will be created for you. The teacher could also use the simulation with the whole group and ask questions to check for understanding. Many students can recite a definition of natural selection, but they may have trouble visualizing how the process actually works.

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