Peppered Moth Simulation

Peppered moths are commonly found in North America, Europe and Asia and have 2 common
forms, one darker than the other. The lighter version is speckled. The moths like to land on the
bark of trees, where they are preyed upon by birds.

Predict:
 Which form of the peppered moth do you think will be easier to see on a darker tree
trunk? The lighter version with speckles will be easier to see.
 If a forest contained mostly lighter trees, which color moth would there be more of in
the population? There would be more of the lighter color moths.

Go to: https://askabiologist.asu.edu/peppered-moths-game/peppered-moth.html

Read the information about the Life Cycle and Predators of the Peppered Moths and answer
questions 1 & 2.
1) Peppered moths generally rest during the day and fly at night to avoid
_____predators.________
2) The ___lichens_________ on the trees help them blend in with the bark.

Click on “Natural Selection” at the top and read about the Industrial Revolution and how the
majority color of the moths changed over time to answer questions 3 and 4.
3) During the Industrial Revolution, the moths changed from mostly the ____light
moths____ into mostly the __dark moths._______
4) Explain how that shift occurred based on the Theory of Natural Selection:
___When the environment changed the darker moths became harder to see so they
were more “fit” to their environment.
________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

Click on the Dr. Kettlewell tab at the top to read about the scientist who studied natural
selection in peppered moths and answer question 5 about his hypothesis.
 5) Dr. Kettlewell’s hypothesis was that lighter moths would be found in __clean forests ___
and the darker moths would be found in polluted forests.

Click on “How to Play” at the top, read the directions and click on “Play Game”.
Select the “light forest” first and play the game for 1 minute. Screenshot (shift+command+3)
your results for the light forest and insert them below.
Light Forest

Select “New Game” and repeat with the “dark forest”. Screenshot your results for the dark
forest and insert them below.
Dark Forest
7) What conclusion can you draw about the fitness of the peppered moths and natural
selection from the data collected in your games? Did the moths change colors? Explain.
While usually fitness causes one version of a species to survive easier (the version that is
more fit) but in some cases the less fit can still survive more. The colors did change, this
is probably due to the fact that I ate more dark moths. The dark moths actually became
a lighter brown.