Name: Date:

Student Exploration:Natural Selection

Directions: Follow the instructions to go through the simulation. Respond to the questions and
prompts in the orange boxes.

Vocabulary: biological evolution, camouflage, Industrial Revolution, lichen, morph, natural selection, peppered
moth

Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.)

The peppered moth (Biston betularia) is a common moth found in

Europe, Asia, and North America. It is commonly found in two forms, or
morphs: a dark morph and a light, speckled morph. Birds are a frequent
predator of the peppered moth.
1. Which morph do you think would be easier to see on a dark tree
trunk? The white moth

2. Which morph do you think would be easier to see on a light tree

trunk? The black moth

Gizmo Warm-up
The Natural Selection Gizmo allows you to play the role of a bird feeding on
peppered moths. The initial population of 40 moths is scattered over 20 tree
trunks. Click on moths to capture them. Click the Next tree button (or the
spacebar on your keyboard) to advance to the next tree.

1. Check that LIGHT TREES is selected. Click Play ( ), and hunt moths
for one year.

A. How many dark moths did you capture? 11

B. How many light moths did you capture? 7

C. Camouflage is coloring or patterns that help an organism to blend

in with the background. Which
type of moth is better camouflaged on light bark? The white moth

2. If a forest contained mostly light-colored trees, which type of moth would you expect to be most common?

The white moth would be most common since it’s easier to camoflauge.

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 Get the Gizmo ready:
Activity A:
● Click Reset ( ).
Light trees
● Check that the LIGHT TREES tab is selected.

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?

1. Predict: Over time, what will to happen to the populations of light and dark moths on light trees?

The light moths will increase, while the dark moths will decrease.

2. Experiment: Click Play and hunt peppered moths on light tree trunks for five years. In each year, try to
capture as many moths as you can. Note: You can use the spacebar on your keyboard to quickly advance
to the next tree.

After 5 years, select the TABLE tab and record the percentages of each moth type. (Note: The table
shows current populations of each moth, not the number of captured moths.)

Year Dark moths Light moths

0 0 0
1 10 8
2 7 5
3 4 5
4 7 13
5 8 10

3. Analyze: What do your results show?

Due to the dark moths being easier to see on the tree trunks, the birds hunt them and the
dark moth population reduces as a result. This is why we found many more light moths
further in the experiment we went.

4. Apply: Which type of moth do you think was more common before the 19th century, when most trees were
light in color?

The white moth was much more common than the black moths.

5. Extend your thinking: What strategies did you use to hunt for moths?

After collecting the all black moths on the tree trunk, look for any disturbances in the tree bark
pattern to spot any white moths.

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 Get the Gizmo ready:
Activity B:
● Click Reset.
Dark trees
● Select the DARK TREES tab.

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?

1. Predict: Over time, what will to happen to the populations of light and dark moths on dark trees?

The light moths will decrease/die off, and the black moths will increase/ live

2. Experiment: Click Play and hunt peppered moths on dark tree trunks for five years. In each year, try to
capture as many moths as you can.

When you are done, select the TABLE tab and record the percentages of each moth type.

Year Dark moths Light moths

0 0 0
1 4 5
2 4 2
3 3 5
4 5 9
5 7 4

3. Analyze: What do your results show?

As birds consumed the white moth population, the dark moth population prospered due to
camouflage. Soon, by year 5, birds would find more black moths than white moths because of
the decreased white moth population.

4. Apply: Which type of moth do you think was more common during the 19th century? Why?

Black moths were probably more common as birch tree trunks darkened with pollution,
causing the white moths to stand out and be more vulnerable to predators. Since the majority
of the white moth population were hunted by birds, the white moth gene would be carried on
less and less each generation.

5. 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?

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 Students act like birds and are challenged to find moths on a tree trunk as fast as possible.
Due to the outstanding colours of one moth population, the students are able to find them
more easily compared to the other moths. As more moths who stood out are chosen, the
number of white moths increase, causing the students to find more white moths than dark
moths by year 5.
Natural selection occurs in the same manner, over a longer period of time.

6. 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.

The changes that occurred within the moth population were due to natural selection as
surviving moths who camouflaged effectively were able to reproduce, giving their colour
genes to the next generation. As moths who were unable to hide from predators efficiently
died, the gene with their wing colour slowly started decreasing as the other moth population
increased, outnumbering the other population.

7. Extend your thinking: Biological evolution is the process by which populations of organisms change over
time. How could natural selection lead to evolution? If possible, discuss your answer with your classmates
and teacher.

The more organisms are able to adapt to the environment, means that it is much more likely
for them to live since they are able to hide from the predators/factors that might kill them.
When more and more organisms live, this provides an increase in offspring.
( For example: Natural selection had allowed black coloured moths to live because they
camouflaged with the trees which led the predators to not have sight of them and they
increased in population)

Reproduction for educational use only. Public sharing or posting prohibited. © 2020 ExploreLearning™ All rights reserved