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Developing an Explanation for Mouse Fur Color

Screenshot of mouse fur evolution animation
Topic
  • Evolution
  • Natural Selection
  • Population Genetics
  • Science Practices
  • Explanations & Argumentation
Resource Type
  • Activities
  • Lessons
Level
High School — AP/IBCollege
Used In
1 BioInteractive Playlists
Favorited By
24 Users
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View in Spanish
Description

In this activity, students collect and analyze evidence for each of the major conditions for evolution by natural selection to develop an explanation for how populations change over time.

This activity is based on the study of fur color evolution in rock pocket mouse populations shown in the film The Making of the Fittest: Natural Selection and Adaptation. Students summarize the evidence for evolution by natural selection shown in the film and in figures from a scientific paper. They should then be able to apply the same concepts to any trait that changes in response to natural selection in any species. The activity helps students develop skills aligned with the science practices of constructing explanations and engaging in argument from evidence.

This activity is adapted from an activity in the “Evolution of Human Skin Color” curriculum unit for AP Biology, which is part of the Smithsonian Institution’s “Teaching Evolution through Human Examples” project (NSF Grant No. 1119468).

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
  • Summarize, analyze, and describe the evidence needed to make claims about natural selection.
  • Develop an explanation for a case of evolution by natural selection that includes logic and evidence, by linking claims to evidence through scientific reasoning.
     
Details
Estimated Time
One to two 50-minute class periods.
Key Terms

adaptation, argument, explanation, inheritance, melanin, rock pocket mouse, variation 

Primary Literature

Hoekstra, H. E., Kristin E. Drumm, and Michael W. Nachman. . “Ecological genetics of adaptive color polymorphism in pocket mice: Geographic variation in selected and neutral genes.” Evolution 58, 6 (2004): 1329–1341. https://doi.org/10.1554/03-418.

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

Please see the Terms of Use for information on how this resource can be used.

Version History
Date Published 07.06.17
Date Updated 04.09.20
Curriculum Connections
NGSS (2013)

HS-LS3-1, HS-LS3-2, HS-LS3-3, HSLS4-2, HS-LS4-4; SEP4, SEP6

AP Biology (2019)

EVO-1.C, EVO-1.D, EVO-1.E, EVO-1.H, EVO-1.J, EVO-1.L, EVO-1.M, EVO-1.O, IST-2.E, EVO-3.A, SYI-3.D; SP5, SP6

IB Biology (2016)

5.1, 5.2

AP Environmental Science (2013)

II.C

IB Environmental Systems and Societies (2017)

2.1

Common Core (2010)

ELA.WHST.9–12.1, ELA.WHST.9–12.5, WHST.9–12.9
Math.S-IC.3; MP2

Vision and Change (2009)

CC1, CC3; DP2

Materials
Resource Google Folder (Link)
Educator Materials (PDF) 312 KB
Student Handout (PDF) 241 KB
Additional Evidence (PDF) 356 KB
Explanation Table (PDF) 144 KB
Educator Materials - Español (PDF) 338 KB
Student Handout - Español (PDF) 303 KB
Additional Evidence - Español (PDF) 377 KB
Explanation Table - Español (PDF) 125 KB
Use This Resource With
Video Resource
The Making of the Fittest: Natural Selection and Adaptation

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