General Environmental Science I
ENV 121
LAB: Evolution by Natural Selection Name: __________________________
Background
Evolution is a change in inherited characteristics in a population over time. Characteristics of a population
change by one or more of these mechanisms of change: mutation, gene flow, genetic drift, and natural
selection. Evolution by natural selection was a concept proposed by Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel
Wallace in 1858. There are several important assumptions of evolution by natural selection.
1. There are differences among individuals (variance) in a population.
2. Those differences can be passed down (inherited) by offspring
3. Generally, more organisms are produced than are able to survive/there is a struggle for limited resources
necessary for survival
4. Organisms with traits that enhance survival are more likely to survive and reproduce, passing these traits
on to future generations
5. Over time there will be changes in the population that reflect which organisms were able to survive and
reproduce.
To summarize, the theory of natural selection states that we are all different and those differences are better
in certain environments than others. If our differences provide us an advantage we are more likely to survive
and reproduce, if they are disadvantageous we are less likely to survive and reproduce. The traits of future
generations will reflect those of the most successful individuals.
Another concept related to evolution by natural selection is the idea of biological fitness. Biological fitness is
judged by an organism’s ability to grow, survive, and reproduce. Any factors that enhance biological fitness,
should be selected for and thus passed on to future generations. This is why natural selection is sometimes
referred to as “survival of the fittest”.
Natural selection is just one way evolution can occur, but research suggests it has been an important
mechanism in driving the evolution of many species. Selection often results when a new trait appears in a
population, usually by mutation (a change in DNA or RNA), or when there is a change to the environment (i.e.
new predator or competitor, change to food source, climate change, etc.) When biotic or abiotic factors select
for certain traits in a species, we refer to these as selective pressures. Selective pressures include things like
competition, predation, parasitism, mutualisms, as well as changes to the environment like climate change or
pollution.
In this lab we are going to explore the survival of two different colored moths of the same species in different
environments and see how that changes the abundance of each color in the different environments. This
simulation is based on the famous example peppered moth in England where human alteration of the
environment through pollution visibly shifted the population of the moths. This species of moth is small and
relies on camouflage to avoid predation from different species of birds. During the industrial revolution, coal
burning factories became common and many areas became darkened with soot. In the mid-1800s, an English
naturalist recorded the first observation of the dark variety of the peppered moth. It was later determined
the new color variation came about because of a mutation. By the late 1800s many species of moths had been
observed to evolve this dark coloration in polluted areas, giving this change the name “industrial melanism”
and leading scientists to pose that this could be an example of natural selection. In the 1950s a scientist
named Dr. Kettlewell performed a series of observations and experiments demonstrating that the different
colorations provided survival advantages in different environments.
Simulation:
Go to the following website: https://askabiologist.asu.edu/peppered-moths-game/index.html
Click on the different sections to read more about the biology of the peppered moth, natural selection, and Dr.
Kettlewell’s experiments. Once you have completed the background reading please create a hypothesis about
what will happen in the two different backgrounds:
Hypothesis 1: (light background)
Hypothesis 2: (dark background)
After you have completed your hypotheses, begin the simulation by clicking on “play”. In this simulation you
are a predator (a bird) and you are trying to catch and eat as many moths as possible. In each run of the
simulation your population of moths should start out as 50% light and 50% dark. You will run this simulation
5 times in the light background and 5 times in the dark background and record your data in the chart below
to see how predation in different colored backgrounds influences the survival of the different colored moths.
Background Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3
Total % % Total % % Total % %
# Light Dark # Light Dark # Light Dark
eaten moth moth eaten moth moth eaten moth moths
s s s s s
Light
Dark
Background Trial 4 Trial 5
Total % % Total % %
# Light Dark # Light Dark
eaten moth moths eaten moth moths
s s
Light
Dark
Questions:
1. Did you see a shift in the percentage of light and dark moths in the light background? If so, which was more
abundant? If not, why do you think you didn’t see the shift?
2. Did you see a shift in the percentage of light and dark moths in the dark background? If so, which was more
abundant? If not, why do you think you didn’t see the shift?
3. Did you percentages remain the same through all five trials? Why do you think you got the results you did?
4. Did the data you collected support your original hypotheses? Why or why not?
5. What were the results of Dr. Kettlewell’s experiments? Do your results agree with Dr. Kettlewell’s results?
6. Based on Dr. Kettlewell’s experiments, why are the peppered moths a good example of natural selection?
7. How did we get the original dark moth?
8. What is industrial melanism?
9. What is biological fitness?
10.Which two scientists proposed the ideas of evolution by natural selection?
11. In the lab simulation, and in the real experiments of Dr. Kettlewell, what was the selective pressure acting
on the peppered moths?
12. What would you predict would happen to the peppered moth populations if the pollution in the forests
were to disappear? Be sure to explain why you predict this will happen.
13. How and why are mutations important in natural selection?
14. Grizzly bears and polar bears are very closely related, so much so that they can reproduce to form hybrid
offspring. Use your understanding of natural selection to describe how polar bears became a separate
classification from the grizzly.
15. Describe how grizzly and polar bear evolution may be affected by climate change.
