Download Natural Selection Lab

Data Analysis:
1. What variations were found in the toothpick population?
2. How did these variations affect the survival of the toothpicks?
3. What adaptations do the toothpicks need to survive in the mulch?
4. Natural selection is the process by which animals that are better adapted to the environment are
selected for (they live), and animals that are not well adapted to their environment are selected against
(they die). Using the highlighted terms above, explain how this lab shows evolution by natural
selection.
5. After many generations, what characteristics would you expect the toothpick population to have? Why?
6. Other than color, what might be a mutation that could occur to the toothpicks to help them to survive
better.
7. Explain three adaptations that would help an animal to survive in a thickly forested area.
8. Construct a hypothesis for what would happen to a population of white rabbits and brown rabbits in the
wild, if the climate changed, becoming snowier. Assume that the rabbits have predators.
9. Analyze how this lab relates to evolution, and how natural selection can lead to evolution.
Data Analysis:
1. What variations were found in the toothpick population?
2. How did these variations affect the survival of the toothpicks?
3. What adaptations do the toothpicks need to survive in the mulch?
4. Natural selection is the process by which animals that are better adapted to the environment are
selected for (they live), and animals that are not well adapted to their environment are selected against
(they die). Using the highlighted terms above, explain how this lab shows evolution by natural
selection.
5. After many generations, what characteristics would you expect the toothpick population to have? Why?
6. Other than color, what might be a mutation that could occur to the toothpicks to help them to survive
better.
7. Explain three adaptations that would help an animal to survive in a thickly forested area.
8. Construct a hypothesis for what would happen to a population of white rabbits and brown rabbits in the
wild, if the climate changed, becoming snowier. Assume that the rabbits have predators.
9. Analyze how this lab relates to evolution, and how natural selection can lead to evolution.