Evolution: Mutation and Selection -
Exploration Notes
Student Exploration: Evolution: Mutation and Selection
Vocabulary: adaptation, allele, allele sequence, chromosome, evolution, fitness, gene,
genotype, mutation, natural selection, phenotype, trait
Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.)
• Imagine a white lizard and a brown lizard sitting on a brown rock. A hawk is circling
overhead hunting for its next meal. Which lizard do you think the hawk would most likely try
to catch? Explain your choice.
The white lizard, as it would be easier both to see and to track from in the sky.
• Now imagine that the same two lizards were sitting on a dune of white sand. Which lizard do
you think the hawk would then most likely try to catch? Why?
The brown lizard, as it would be easier both to see and to track from in the sky.
Gizmo Warm-up
How long could a parrot survive in Antarctica? It would
probably not survive long. Parrots do not have
adaptations—or helpful characteristics—to survive
icy cold weather. Because of this, a parrot is not fit for
Antarctica. Fitness describes how well an organism
can survive and reproduce in an environment.
In the Evolution: Mutation and Selection Gizmo, you
will see how a species’ fitness can change over time
as it becomes better adapted to its environment.
• On the SIMULATION pane, what is the Average fitness of the population? 50%
• On the CONTROLS pane, experiment with the Background color sliders.
• Which background color results in the highest fitness? White
• Which background color results in the lowest fitness? Black
Activity A:
Inherited variation
Get the Gizmo ready:
• Set Red to 100, Green to 255, and Blue to 50.
Introduction: An organism’s traits, or characteristics, are controlled by genes. Genes are
located on rod-like structures called chromosomes. Different versions of genes that code for
the same trait are called alleles. In this Gizmo, there are 3 genes on each chromosome. For
