Adapting to the Environment

• Students simulate variations and adaptations of the hand to observe the impact of these variations on food collection. The increase or decrease of a mutation in a population over several generations of food collection is simulated, and data is collected. Students then have the opportunity to evaluate their data to determine how the change in environmental conditions (food source) resulted in an increase in the number of individuals with a specific variation, and the extinction of individuals with another specific variation. Students hypothesize how these populations could result over time in the emergence of new species.

Items included in this lab are listed below.

Masking tape, Popcorn.