Color Variation Over Time in Rock Pocket Mouse Populations

Topic

Resource Type

Level

Middle/Junior High High School — General High School — AP/IB

Used In

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Description

This activity allows students to collect and analyze data on the evolution of coat color in rock pocket mouse populations living on differently colored substrates.

Students analyze data from images of rock pocket mouse populations in different settings and over time. They then order those images based on the data and their knowledge of evolution by natural selection. The activity involves collecting and graphing data and making evidence-based claims.

This activity serves as an extension to the short film The Making of the Fittest: Natural Selection and Adaptation and as a means of reinforcing the concepts of variation and natural selection.

The “Card Images” ZIP file contains individual image files for the cards used in this activity that can be used in the classroom, particularly in online courses. A document within the ZIP file contains suggestions for their use. These card images are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CCC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license. We would ask that you attribute these to BioInteractive and not use them for commercial purposes.

The “Resource Google Folder” link directs to a Google Drive folder of resource documents in the Google Docs format. Not all downloadable documents for the resource may be available in this format. The Google Drive folder is set as “View Only”; to save a copy of a document in this folder to your Google Drive, open that document, then select File → “Make a copy.” These documents can be copied, modified, and distributed online following the Terms of Use listed in the “Details” section below, including crediting BioInteractive.

Student Learning Targets

Explain how variation, selection, and time fuel the process of evolution.
Analyze, organize, and graph data.

Estimated Time

Two 50-minute class periods.

Key Terms

adaptation, bar graph, camouflage, evolution, mutation, natural selection, trait

Primary Literature

Nachman, M. W., Hopi E. Hoekstra, and Susan L. D’Agostino. “The genetic basis of adaptive melanism in pocket mice.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 100, 9 2003: 5268–5273. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0431157100.

Terms of Use

The resource is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license. No rights are granted to use HHMI’s or BioInteractive’s names or logos independent from this Resource or in any derivative works.

Accessibility Level (WCAG compliance)

PDF files meet criteria.

Version History

Date Published 03.07.11

Date Updated 06.08.20

NGSS (2013)

HS-LS2-2, HS-LS2-6, HS-LS3-3, HS-LS4-4, HS-LS4-5; SEP2, SEP4

AP Biology (2019)

EVO-1.C, EVO-1.D, EVO-1.E, EVO-1.G, EVO-1.H, EVO-1.J, EVO-1.M, EVO-1.O, EVO-3.A, IST-2.E, IST-4.A, SYI-3.D, ENE-4.B; SP1, SP2, SP4

IB Biology (2016)

5.1, 5.2, 10.3, C.1

AP Environmental Science (2020)

Topic(s): 2.6, 2.7
Learning Objectives & Practices: ERT-2.H, SP4, SP2, SP5, SP6

IB Environmental Systems and Societies (2017)

2.1, 3.2

Common Core (2010)

ELA.RST.9–12.3, ELA.RST.9–12.4, ELA.RST.9–12.7, ELA.WHST.9–12.1
MP2, MP3, MP5

Vision and Change (2009)

CC1, CC2; DP1, DP2, DP3

Color Variation Over Time in Rock Pocket Mouse Populations

Topic

Resource Type

Level

Description