Students duplicate the famous peppered moth evolution study in the lab with this Natural Selection Experiment.

• Students Simulate Predator-Prey Relationship
• Reusable
• Time Required: One 50 Minute Class Period
• Teacher's Instructions Included
• Two Lab Activities Included

In the 1950s, Oxford University scientist Dr. Bernard Kettlewell studied the changes in England's peppered moth population. Over a hundred-year period, the population of peppered moths shifted from being primarily light-colored to dark-colored. Dr. Kettlewell reasoned that predatory birds fed on more light-colored moths because they were more easy to spot against the pollution-darkened tree bark. This meant that the dark-colored moths survived in greater numbers, and the genes for their dark coloring were passed down to future generations.

Using Dr. Kettlewell's study as the basis for experimentation, students conduct two simple quantitative lab activities that demonstrate the effects of environmental pollution on nature.