Name: ______________________________________ Date: ________________________

Gizmos Website: [Link]

Teacher’s Username: rfrance
Your password can be found in the Grades area of your Science course.

Module 13 – Unit Activity – Evolution Gizmo Student

Exploration Worksheets
Prior Knowledge Questions [class discussion]

1. Imagine a white lizard and a brown lizard sitting on a brown rock. A hawk is circling
overhead hunting for its next meal. Which lizard do you think the hawk would most likely try
to catch? Explain your choice.

2. Now imagine that the same two lizards were sitting on a dune of white sand. Which lizard do
you think the hawk would then most likely try to catch? Why?

Gizmo Warm-up [class discussion]

How long could a parrot survive in Antarctica? It would
probably not survive long. Parrots do not have
adaptations—or helpful characteristics—to survive
icy cold weather. Because of this, a parrot is not fit for
Antarctica. Fitness describes how well an organism
can survive and reproduce in an environment.

In the Evolution Gizmo, you will see how a species’

fitness can change over time as it becomes better
adapted to its environment.

1. On the SIMULATION pane, what is the Average fitness of the population?

2. On the CONTROLS pane, experiment with the Background color sliders.

A. Which background color results in the highest fitness?

B. Which background color results in the lowest fitness?

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 Get the Gizmo ready:
Activity A:
• Set Red to 100, Green to 255, and Blue to 50.
Inherited variation
• Set the Mutation rate to 1.0.

Introduction: An organism’s traits, or characteristics, are controlled by genes. Genes are

located on rod-like structures called chromosomes. Different versions of genes that code for
the same trait are called alleles. In this Gizmo, there are 3 genes on each chromosome. For
each gene there are eight possible alleles: W (white), R (red), G (green), B (blue), C (cyan), M
(magenta), Y (yellow), and K (black).

Question: Where does variation in a population come from?

1. Observe: Click on one of the insects. The two rod-like structures

under Genotype on the right side of the Gizmo represent
chromosomes. The three letters next to each chromosome
represent alleles.

Which alleles does the insect have? Label them using the
chromosomes on the right.

The alleles carried on an organism’s chromosomes make up the organism’s genotype.

2. Observe: An organism’s alleles combine to produce a trait. The physical expression of that
trait is a phenotype. In the Gizmo, phenotype is expressed in red, green, and blue values.

A. What is the phenotype of the insect? Red: ______ Green: ______ Blue: ______

B. What color is the insect? __________________

3. Run Gizmo: Move the Sim. speed slider all the way to the left. Click Play ( ). You will see
the insects move to the left in pairs. The pairs mate and produce a set of four offspring. As
soon as you see at least one offspring with an oval around it, click Pause ( ). Click on the
circled offspring.

A. What is its genotype and phenotype?

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

B. How does its genotype and phenotype differ from the non-circled offspring?

___________________________________________________________________

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 4. Explain: The change in the circled offspring’s genotype was caused by a mutation. A
mutation is a change in a gene. Mutations happen when a mistake is made when a cell’s
chromosomes are copied. How might mutations introduce variation into a population?

Get the Gizmo ready:

Activity B:
• Click Reset ( ).
Survival of the
• Set Red to 255, Green to 0, and Blue to 130.
fittest
• Set the Mutation rate to 1.0.

Question: Are some organisms more likely to survive and reproduce than others?

1. Count: Move the Sim. speed slider all the way to the left. Click Play.

A. After the parents mate, click Pause. How many offspring are there? _____________

B. Click Play. After the birds eat, click Pause. How many offspring are left? _________

In nature, as in the Gizmo, more offspring are born than can survive long enough to
reproduce. Because of this, the offspring must compete with one another for survival. In this
Gizmo, the insect offspring compete to avoid being eaten by birds.

2. Observe: Move the Sim. speed slider one notch to the right. Click Play, and wait until you
reach generation 20, then click Pause ( ). You should see a variety of insect phenotypes.

A. What different colors alleles do you see? ________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

B. How do you think this variation might affect the competition between the offspring?
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 3. Analyze: Click on the insects and note their individual fitness (shown under the Phenotype).
The fitness of an organism reflects how likely it is to survive and produce offspring. Each
insect is given a percentage that reflects its chances of surviving to reproduce.

Compare these fitness percentages to the insect colors. How does fitness relate to the color
of the insects?

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

4. Predict: [class discussion] How do you think an insect’s fitness will affect its chances of
being eaten by birds?

5. Collect data: DO NOT RESET YOUR GIZMO. In nature, chance alone can affect whether an
individual survives. However, general trends in survival rates can be seen by studying a
larger group of individuals.

Move the Sim. speed slider all the way to the left. Click Play, and then click Pause when all
20 offspring are visible (before the bird feeds) for the generation numbers listed in the table
below. Record the average fitness of all 20 offspring in the Average Fitness column of the
table below.

Next, click Play, and then click Pause immediately after the birds have fed and the 10
survivors are visible. Click on each survivor and record its individual fitness in the Survivor
Fitness Values column of the table below. Find the average fitness of the survivors by
adding all Survivor Fitness Values for that row then dividing by 10. Use the example below
as a model for how to complete this activity.

Example:
Survivor Fitness Values Average
Average Survivor
Fitness Fitness
Generation (pre-bird) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 (post-bird)
15 54% 45 50 50 50 50 61 61 61 73 61 56%

Survivor Fitness Values Average

Average Survivor
Fitness Fitness
Generation (pre-bird) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 (post-bird)
21
25
30

6. Recognize trends: Study the table above. What trends do you see? ___________________

_________________________________________________________________________

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 7. Analyze: In most situations, were the fittest insects or the least fit insects most likely to
survive? Explain how the data from your experiment supports your answer.

8. Think and Write: The principle of natural selection states that the best adapted organisms
are most likely to survive and reproduce. Was this demonstrated in your experiment?
Support your answer with evidence from this activity.

Get the Gizmo ready:

Activity C:
• Click Reset. Set Red to 100, Green to 255, and
Evolution Blue to 50.
• Set the Mutation rate to 1.0.

Introduction: You learned in activity B that fit individuals have a better chance of surviving and
reproducing than individuals that are less fit. In this activity, you will observe how natural
selection affects a population over time.

Question: How does a population change over time?

1. Experiment: Record the Average fitness of each listed generation in the Average Fitness
Column of the table. Click on each of the insects to find the individual with the greatest
Individual Fitness. Record that individual’s fitness level and phenotype in the correct
columns of the table.

Move the Sim. speed slider a quarter of the way to the right. Run the Gizmo, and complete
the table for each listed generation. (The generation number does not have to be exact.)
Generation 1 has been completed for you as an example.
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 Fitness of Phenotype of Fittest Individual
Generation Average Background
Fittest
number Fitness Red Green Blue color
Individual

1 53% 50% 255 255 255

25

50

75

100
red = 100
150 green = 255
blue = 50
200

250

300

350

400

2. Describe: Examine the data collected for trends. How did the population’s fitness change
over time? How did the phenotype of the fittest individual change over time?

The process by which populations change over time is known as evolution. This Gizmo
only demonstrates how one trait—body color—can evolve.

3. Predict: [class discussion] Based on what you have just seen, how do you think the
population would evolve if you made the Background color purple?
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 4. Test: DO NOT RESET YOUR GIZMO. Set Red to 120, Green to 0, and Blue to 160 to
make a purple background. Click Play. After 300 more generations have passed, click
Pause. Was your prediction correct? Explain your answer.

5. Make connections: Why is it necessary for traits to be inherited for evolution to take place?

Get the Gizmo ready:

Activity D:
• Click Reset ( ). Be sure Natural selection is
Mutation rates selected.
• Set Red to 100, Green to 255, and Blue to 50.

Question: How does the mutation rate affect a population’s ability to adapt to its
environment?

1. Gather data: Change the Mutation rate to 0.1 and the Sim. speed slider to its lowest
setting. Click Play, and then click Pause when the offspring appear. Record the number of
mutations (circled offspring).

Do this for each mutation rate and generation listed in the table, then calculate the average
number of mutations for each mutation rate by adding the three generational values in that
row, then dividing by three. The mutation rate of 0.1 has been completed for you as an
example.
Generation Generation Generation Average Mutation
Mutation rate
2 3 4 Frequency
0.1 1 0 1 0.67
1.0
10.0

How does the mutation rate relate to the number of mutations in each generation?

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 2. Predict: [class discussion] How do you expect the rate of mutations to affect the ability of
the bug population to adapt to its environment?

3. Gather data: Click Reset. Set the Mutation rate to 0.1 and move the Sim. speed slider to a
faster setting. Click Play, and then click Pause when the Average fitness is 90% or
greater. Record the number of generations required to reach 90% fitness in the table below.

Complete three trials for each mutation rate, then find the average number of generations
required to reach 90% fitness at that mutation rate by adding the three trial values in that
row, then dividing by three.

Number of generations to 90% Average Number of

Mutation rate average fitness Generations to reach
Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 90% Fitness
0.1
0.3
0.5
1.0
3.0
5.0
7.0
10.0

4. Analyze: How does the mutation rate affect the speed at which a population adapts to its
environment?

5. Think and discuss: You may have noticed that above a certain mutation rate the time
required for a population to adapt to its background may increase. Why do you think this is
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 6. Make connections: Why do you think it is necessary for there to be variation or mutation in a
population in order for evolution by natural selection to occur?

7. Apply: Look carefully at the picture below and you will see an
insect called a katydid. Katydids evolved from grasshoppers
through natural selection. Use what you have learned to
explain how this could have happened.

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