Name: _____________________________________________ Period: ___________

Natural Selection Simulation

Go to the Natural Selection simulation. https://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/natural-selection
● Click “play”
● Click “intro”

Task 1: rabbit fur colour

Time to get started! Reset everything using the

button. Change the setting to proportions.

Before you start, make sure your screen looks like

this:

1. Click “add a mate” and wait until Generation

2. Click

2. Click on the “dominant” brown fur mutation

3. Wait until Generation 4. What % of rabbits have white fur and brown fur?
White rabbits: ______________________ Brown rabbits:______________________

4. Select “wolves” button. Record % of rabbits at Generation 6:

White rabbits: ______________________ Brown rabbits:______________________
5. Which type of rabbit was most harmed by the presence of the wolves? Why do you think this is?

6. Identify the conditions for natural selection in this example

a. Variation: what trait varied? _______fur and ________fur
b. Competition: what did the rabbits compete over? Competed to escape from
_______________
c. Selection: which trait provides a survival advantage? __________ fur because it helped the
rabbits ________________
d. Inheritance: how is the trait passed down? ________________

7. Unselect the “wolves”. Select the “limited food” button . Wait 3 generations and
record rabbit %
White rabbits: ______________________ Brown rabbits:______________________
8. How were the rabbit populations affected by the limited food resource? Does the color of the
rabbits’ fur have any advantage in this situation?
 9. Unselect the “limited food”. Select the in the upper right corner and the “wolves” button.
Wait 3 generations and record rabbit %
White rabbits: ______________________ Brown rabbits:______________________
10. Which type of rabbit was most harmed by the presence of the wolves? Why do you think this is?

11. Identify the conditions for natural selection in this example

a. Variation: what trait varied?

b. Competition: what did the rabbits compete over?

c. Selection: which trait provides a survival advantage?

d. Inheritance: how is the trait passed down?

Task 2: Evolution of long teeth:

Select “lab”. Ensure you have “desert” selected. Your screen should look like the one below:

1. Add a mate and wait until generation 3.

2. Select “long teeth mutation” and wait until generation 5

3. Then select “tough food” and wait until generation 10
4. Record the % of long and short teeth in the table below (use arrows to go back to earlier generations):
 Generation Short teeth Long teeth
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Task 2 Questions:
1. Describe how the proportion of long teeth rabbits changed over time

2. Explain why long teeth is an adaptation for rabbits in an environment with tough food

3. Identify the conditions for natural selection in this example

a. Variation: what trait varied?

b. Competition: what did the rabbits compete over?

c. Selection: which trait provides a survival advantage?

d. Inheritance: how is the trait passed down?

4. Explain how long teeth evolved using natural selection:

All rabbits originally had ________ teeth, but a ___________ caused some rabbits to have
________ teeth creating variation.

The rabbits were competing over __________. Because the food was ___________ the rabbits
with _________ were better able to eat the food and so had a survival ______________.
Over time the rabbits with __________ teeth passed their _________ on and the number of long
teeth rabbits ______________.