Natural Selection Lab Part 1 & 2

Natural Selection Lab

Part 1 & 2

With Phet Simulator - https://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulations/natural-selection

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Multiple Choice

When the simulation opens there is a single bunny with white fur.

Identify what options you have in the simulation to add other fur variations to the population.

• The Wolves Environmental Factor button.

• The Add Mutation button for brown fur.

• The 'Add a Mate' button.

• The snowflake icon.

Multiple Select

Identify the two options that you can select for the brown fur color mutation in the simulation.

Select all that apply:

• Brown fur will be a dominant trait.

• Brown fur will be a co-dominant trait

• Brown fur will be a recessive trait.

Multiple Choice

Click the 'Add a Mate' button to start the simulation.

Let the simulation run for 3 to 4 generations and then click the pause button.

Describe what happens after each generation.

Hint: The generation counter is displayed by a pink circle at the top of the simulation. You can speed up the times to pass through generations by holding the fast forward button.

• The population increases due to reproduction between the bunnies.

• The population stays the same as none of the bunnies reproduce.

• The population decreases as more or the bunnies die.

Multiple Select

Explore the simulation to find the best way to count the number of bunnies in the environment.

Identify the strategy(ies) you found for counting large numbers of bunnies.

• Count the bunnies on the screen.

• The population stays the same as none of the bunnies reproduce. Use the Plus/Minus buttons to rescale the graph and read the Y-axis.

• Click the Data Probe box, and then move the data probe to read the graph at different time points.

• Click the Proportions button to then read the proportion of different bunnies that have each variation.

Multiple Choice

Describe what happens to the bunny population in the simulation when you let the simulation play for 5 to 7 generations.

• The bunny population all dies off.

• The bunny population stays the same.

• The bunny population grows to take over the world.

Open Ended

This simulation is a model of the real world.

Predict whether you think it is possible for bunnies to "take over the world" in nature.

Explain your prediction.

(This is high school, we write in complete sentences in High School)

Multiple Select

Identify two components in the simulation that you can select that might prevent the bunny population from taking over the world.

• Limited food supply

• The temperature of the environment

• Disease

• The presence of wolf predators

Part 2

In this section we will explore the changes in a population that doesn't have any variation when something in the environment changes.

The bunnies in this simulation all have white fur. After five generations we will add wolves.

Let's test your hypothesis.

Multiple Select

Select three observations from the simulation.

Hint: Look at the graph on the simulation.

How did the bunny population change for the first five generations?

How did the bunny population change in the 5 generations after the wolves were added?

• The bunny population increased in the generations after the wolves were added.

• The bunny population increased in the generations before the wolves were added.

• The bunny population decreased in the generations after the wolves were added.

• The bunny population decreased in the generations before the wolves were added.

• The bunnies all died. The population went extinct.

Open Ended

Explain the causes for the changes in the bunny population that you observed.

Open Ended

Describe a possible change you could make in the simulation that might allow the bunny population to survive even if there are wolves present.

Explain how that change would result in the bunny population surviving in the presence of wolves.