Natural Selection Lab- PhET Simulation

Pre-Lab Questions
1. What variables can you influence in this lab?
Fur color, long/short teeth, long/short tail, and environment, adding wolves
2. Define what a genetic mutation is. How do genetic mutations happen? How often?
Genetic mutation is a mutation to species inside it DNA that
3. What do the terms fitness and adaptation mean? What is the difference between the two?
Adaptation is a change or the process of change by which an organism or species becomes
better suited to its environment.
Fitness is the genetic contribution of an individual to the next generation's gene pool relative to
the average for the population
Adaptation happen to a organisms and change it trough time, while fitness follow up what the
previous generation adapt to and try to survive better.
4. What selection factors might effect an animal population besides the ones used in this lab?
Thefoodandthepredatorwilleffectthepopulation.
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.
I hypothesize that (select a rabbit phenotype) rabbits will be (more/ less) likely to
survive under brown fur rabbit within the Equator environment, because..... The
color of the rabbit and the environment is similar and help the rabbit to camouflage.
It makes the wolves harder to see and they will prefer to hunt the white rabbit.

***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

More Brown
Rabbit in
Equator

Brown

Wolves

18

5
Brown
13
White

4 Brown
1 White

My hypothesis
is right, there
are more brown
rabbit than
white.

More Long
Teeth when
given food

Long
Teeth

Food

5 Short
1 Long

5 Long
1 Short

My hypothesis
was right, there
are more rabbit
with long teeth
that short teeth.

More Short
Tail when
there is
wolves

Short
Tail

Wolves

5 Short
1 Long

1 Short
1 Long

The population
is balance and
the wolves
seems to
attack the short
tail more.

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 teeth rabbit will survive more than short teeth rabbit when there are given food. While the
wolves will prey on short tail and white rabbit more in the equator environment.

2. What happens to animals that cannot compete as well with other animals in the wild?
Their population is decreasing drastically while the other one increase more each generation.

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?
I think because they doesnt adapt to the environment yet, they dont know how to play the
game in that certain area. They are not familiar and dont know how to survive in the new area.

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?
Each species has their own habitat and environment. They adapt and evolve to their
environment and those species will be the fittest in their own environment
5. How do you think diseases can affect natural selection?
If one species get a disease and spread, there is a chance that it will make some species to
withstand it and make it immune. They can evolve into something that can withstand the
disease.

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

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

There will
be more
brown fur
rabbit in
equator

Pheno
type

Brown

Selective
Factor

CONTROL
Group
Initial
Population
at F3

CONTROL
Group
Final
Population

Experment
Group
Initial
Population
at F3

Experiment
Group
Final
Population

Conclusion/
Observation

Wolves

18

13
White
5
Brown

4 Brown
0 White

There are more

brown rabbit
and there will
be more brown
rabbit if the
allele is
dominant for
brown

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?
Yes there is a impact on the population if the brown is dominant there will be more brown rabbit
the next generation but if the dominant is white, there will be more white next generation

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?
BB

Bw

Bw

ww

WW

Wb

Wb

bb

3. If this new experiment were to run longer would the end result be the same or different
from the original experiment?
Theresultwillbethesamebecausethebrownrabbitwillsurvivemorethanthewhiterabbitinthe
equator

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 show the ancestor of a species

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

It show that the rabbit is the first one to have mutation
3. What does it mean when a rabbit has a red X over it?
The rabbit has died

4. How accurate are the pedigrees used in this lab? Did each couple only have one baby?
Its not that accurate because the rabbit only have one baby.