Natural Selection LabPhET Simulation

Pre-Lab Questions
1. What variables can you influence in this lab?
Fur, long tail, long teeth, genes, wolves, food, equator, arctic, chart.

2. Define what a genetic mutation is. How do genetic mutations happen? How often?
Mutation that happens on the offspring, when different environment and the animal need to
adapt, some of their genes on the reproductive sector is changing which makes the offspring
more adaptable to the surrounding.
3. What do the terms fitness and adaptation mean? What is the difference between the two?
Fitness is the contributions to a gene pool of the next generation by an individual relative to that
of other individuals (genotype). While adaptation is the process through which natural selection
creates changes that increase genetic fitness.

4. What selection factors might effect an animal population besides the ones used in this lab?
Furthickness,fatcontent,longerfeet,differentfood,biggerear,

Designing The Experiment

In this Lab you will be controlling the mutations and environment of a population of rabbits. Your
will create four hypotheses and design an experiment to test each one. Your hypothesis will
follow the format where you fill in the (...) with your own ideas and reasons.
Therabbitswouldsurvivelongeriftheyadapttotheenvironment,therabbitswouldeventuallymutateto
adaptandthelongerthetimethemoreandfasterrabbitspopulate.
I hypothesize that (select a rabbit phenotype) rabbits will be (more/ less) likely to
survive under (type of selective factor) within the (select type of environment)
environment, because..... (explain how their trait will help them to survive or not)
I hypothesize that brown fur rabbits will be more likely to survive under food within
the equator environment, because they are preyed with vicious animals, they have
less food, and they do not camouflage.

***You must make at least one hypothesis for each of the three different types of phenotype
mutations***

For each experiment you must have a control (no mutation) and fill in the following chart
Experiment
and
Hypothesis

Pheno
type

Selective
Factor

CONTROL
Group
Initial
Population
at F3

CONTROL
Group
Final
Population

Experment
Group
Initial
Population
at F3

Experiment
Group
Final
Population

Conclusion/
Observation

Long tail
survive

Long
tail

food

13

Long tail idoes

not adapt to
equator

Long
teeth will
not
survive

Long
teeth

food

39

15

15

Long teeth is
needed to
survive on the
equator with
food factor

Brown fur
will
survive

Brow
n fur

food

37

2800

17

1400

Both survive a
lot magically,
and overrun the
world with white
on the lead.

Long tail
will not
survive

Long
tail

Food

38

60

16

12

My hypothesis
is correct, the
long tail
survives less
than short tail.

For each of the experiments, begin by adding a friend and a mutation. Wait until the F3
generation before adding the selective factor. After adding the selective factor let the
simulation run for another 3 or 4 generations.
Use the population numbers from the chart to get you numbers for the table, remember
you can zoom in and out on the chart to get more accurate reads.
Repeat for experiments 2, 3 and 4
Post-Lab Questions

1. Based upon your evidence from the simulation what conclusion are you able to make
about each of the three different types of phenotypes in rabbits?
Long tail is could not compete with short tail, Brown and white fur is both habitable in the
equator but the white fur leads higher population, and long teeth does not compete as well as
the short teeth in the equator.

2. What happens to animals that cannot compete as well with other animals in the wild?
Their population will decrease or they will mutate or they will die

3. Sometimes animals that are introduced into an area that they never lived in before, outcompete and endanger resident species, why do you think this happens?
Animals migrate due to environmental issues, by that they are forcefully introduced to new
environment to survive

4. If only one species is considered the "fittest", why do we still have so many variations
among species. Why do some birds have very long pointy beaks, while other birds have
short flat beaks?
Because they consume different dosis of food / kind of food

5. How do you think diseases can affect natural selection?

Mutation and kill almost most population of a species because they do not have variety

6. How does this simulation mimic natural selection? In what ways does this simulation fail to
represent the process of natural selection?
Thefewlogicphenotypesuchasbrownfurintheequatorhaslesspopulationcomparedtothewhitefur,
whichshouldbethebrownfurisabletocamouflageandhavealargerpopulationbutdidnot.

Extension- Changing the Dominance and

Recessive Alleles
Take one of the experiments from the lab. Recreate the same
experiment, EXCEPT when you add the mutation EDIT THE
GENES by switching the dominant and recessive allele for that
trait. Make a hypothesis, fill in the chart again and compare the
results to your initial experiment.
Experiment
and
Hypothesis

Pheno
type

Selective
Factor

CONTROL
Group
Initial
Population
at F3

CONTROL
Group
Final
Population

Experment
Group
Initial
Population
at F3

Experiment
Group
Final
Population

Conclusion/
Observation

Brown fur
is
recessive
which will
have less
populatio
n

Brow
n fur

food

Brown is extinct
because its
recessive.

1. Did switching the alleles for dominant and recessive have any impact on the population of
rabbits? If so Why? In nothing changed Why not?
There are impact because through the population itself. By seeing it, brown extinct in the
equator due to its recessive traits.

2. Two parent rabbits are both heterozygous for the trait. Create Punnet squares for the
original experiment and the new experiment (with the changed alleles). What are the
phenotype ratios of the Punnet squares? Does this evidence support your finding? and
how?
Original : white = d brown = D
Experimental : white = D brown = d
original
experimental
D
d
D
d
D| D
Dd
D| D
Dd
d | Dd
dd
d | Dd
dd
ratio= white: 25%
ratio= white: 25%
brown: 75%
brown: 75%
3. If this new experiment were to run longer would the end result be the same or different
from the original experiment?

Differentbecausethedominantwouldmorelikelytotakeover

Extension- Working with PedigreesSwitch from the population chart to the pedigree
chart
Begin by adding a friend and a mutation. Wait until
the F5 generation. Copy the Pedigree for two
rabbits (described below) using the key. Assume
that male rabbits are on the left and female rabbits
are on the right.

Find these two rabbits, make sure they have at least four generations:
1. Select a rabbit that has the mutation.
2. Select a rabbit without the mutation but with parents or grandparent with the mutation.
Answer the following questions:
1. How could using a pedigree be helpful?
It could draw and analyze species that survive

2. What does it mean to have a yellow triangle above the rabbit?

Dominant

3. What does it mean when a rabbit has a red X over it?

Dead /recessive

4. How accurate are the pedigrees used in this lab? Did each couple only have one baby?
Its not as acurate because the table only shows one offspring, thouh the brown is dominant, who knows if there
could be a recessive gene that offspring obtains.