Principles of Natural Selection

Enzo | 10C
1. The individuals within a population differ from one another
2. The differences are, at least in part, passed from parents to offspring
3. Some individuals are more successful at surviving and reproducing than others
4. The successful individuals succeed because of the variant traits they have
inherited and will pass to their offspring

Instructions:
Press play
Press brown fur and add friends.

1. Hypothesize which bunnies would better survive in the arctic environment.

Why?
White bunnies, because their fur are camouflaged better from their predators

2. Choose the arctic environment. What happened? Why?

The population of the brown bunny is decreasing, because they are not well
camouflaged

3. Add wolves. What happened now? Why?

The population of the bunny (white or brown) decreases, because they hunt for
prey. But the camouflage helped some of them from surviving

4. Reset. Press Arctic. Give the bunny white fur. Add friends. Give food. What
happened? Why?
I am a bit confused in this part, but I have 2 guesses. First, the bunnies might be
competing more with the limited food source, so more of them died fighting. Or
second, they might not have the right teeth to be able to digest the food

5. Reset. Press Arctic. Click long teeth. Which one is depicted on the chart as a
larger population (long or short teeth)? Why do you think this happened?
Long teeth; because their teeth are more adapted to eating this kind of plant. The
short teeth bunnies were not fit enough, and they vanished from the population

6. Click on long tails. Which one is depicted on the chart as a larger population
(long or short tail)? Why do you think this happened?
Even though the mutation was added, the population ration stayed the same. This is
because the tail length might not be an advantageous, nor disadvantageous trait

7. Repeat this experiment (steps 1-6) with the equator environment. Which
parameters allow for a better survival rate? Why?
The brown fur, because it made them camouflage better in the environment, hence
preventing them from being overhunted
Answers:

1. Bunnies with white fur would be better adapted to the artic environment and
would survive. Answers will vary.
2. Same as 1.
3. Bunnies with brown fur become extinct, leaving only the white bunnies left.
Answers will vary.
4. The bunnies reproduce and dominate the world! Answers will vary.
5. Bunnies with short teeth have a larger population. Answers will vary.
6. Bunnies with short tail have a larger population. Answers will vary.
7. Answers may vary but brown bunnies with short teeth and tails will have a
better survival rate.