Interactive Assessment for Natural Selection and Adaptation

Resource Type
Description
Several questions are embedded within the short film The Making of the Fittest: Natural Selection and Adaptation, which uses the rock pocket mouse as a living example of natural selection.
This film uses the rock pocket mouse as a living example of Darwin’s process of natural selection. It highlights the research of Michael Nachman, who has quantified predation on rock pocket mice and identified adaptive changes in coat-color genes that allow the mice to travel under the radar of hungry predators.
This version of the film with embedded questions contains automatic pause points, during which students answer questions about the film to assess their understanding of the concepts presented. After answering all the questions, students can view and print their answers.
Student Learning Targets
- Describe what a mutation is and how it may affect an individual’s survival and reproduction depending on environment.
- Explain how variation, selection, and time fuel the process of evolution through natural selection.
Estimated Time
Key Terms
camouflage, melanin, melanocortin 1 receptor (MC1R), mutation, rock pocket mouse, selective pressure, trait, variation
Primary Literature
Nachman, Michael 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 USA 100, 9 (2003): 5268–5273.
Terms of Use
Please see the Terms of Use for information on how this resource can be used.
Accessibility Level (WCAG compliance)
Version History
NGSS (2013)
HS-LS1-1, HS-LS2-1, HS-LS3-1, HS-LS3-3, HS-LS4-3; SEP6
AP Biology (2019)
EVO-1.C, EVO-1.D, EVO-1.E, EVO-1.G, EVO-1.H, EVO-3.A, SYI-3.D, IST-2.E, IST-4.A, IST-4.B; SP1
IB Biology (2016)
4.1, 5.4, D.2
AP Environmental Science (2020)
Topic(s): 2.6, 9.9
Learning Objectives & Practices: ERT-2.H, EIN-4.B
Common Core (2010)
MP2
Vision and Change (2009)
CC1, CC5; DP1