In this activity, students formulate a hypothesis and collect and analyze real research data about how quickly natural selection can act on specific traits in a population as a result of predation. It is accompanied by a short video that describes the experiment this activity is based on.
This activity reinforces concepts of variation and natural selection covered in the short film Natural Selection and Adaptation. Students apply the Hardy-Weinberg equation to real data collected on rock pocket mouse populations.
This activity engages students in learning about the mechanism of evolution by natural selection and Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium using candies to represent populations of beetles.