Name: Date: Student Exploration: Evolution: Natural and Artificial Selection Gizmo Warm-up Dog breeds and other varieties of domesticated animals were developed through artificial selection. Over many generations, breeders selected which animals to mate in order to select for desired traits. The Evolution: Natural and Artificial Selection Gizmo allows you to try your hand at breeding insects with a variety of colors. To begin, select the Artificial selection option. 1. Drag the 10 insects into the breeding alcoves on the left side of the Gizmo. A. How many breeding pairs are there? B. How many offspring are produced? 2. Circled insects have mutations, or changes to their DNA. How many of the offspring insects in this generation have mutations? Activity A: Genotype and phenotype Question: How are genes inherited and modified over many generations? Get the Gizmo ready: . Select Natural selection. US
The Correct Answer and Explanation is:
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Student Exploration: Evolution: Natural and Artificial Selection Gizmo
Warm-up
1. Drag the 10 insects into the breeding alcoves on the left side of the Gizmo.
A. How many breeding pairs are there?
There are 5 breeding pairs.
B. How many offspring are produced?
The Gizmo produces 20 offspring.
2. Circled insects have mutations, or changes to their DNA. How many of the offspring insects in this generation have mutations?
Typically, there are 2 offspring with mutations, though this can vary slightly depending on random mutation settings in the simulation.
Activity A: Genotype and Phenotype
Question: How are genes inherited and modified over many generations?
In the Evolution: Natural and Artificial Selection Gizmo, genes are passed from parent insects to their offspring during the breeding process. Each insect has a genotype, which is its genetic makeup, and a phenotype, which is the physical expression of that genetic code. For example, an insect might have genes for color that result in it being green, brown, or purple.
When breeding occurs, offspring inherit a combination of genes from each parent. If the same trait is inherited from both parents, the trait is expressed strongly in the phenotype. If different versions of a gene (alleles) are inherited, one may be dominant and the other recessive, influencing which trait appears in the offspring.
Over generations, mutations can occur. A mutation is a change in the DNA sequence, which might create a new trait. These mutations are random and can be beneficial, neutral, or harmful. If a mutation leads to an advantage in survival or reproduction, natural selection may favor that trait, allowing it to spread in future generations.
Artificial selection mimics this process, but instead of nature choosing the traits, humans do. In contrast, natural selection allows the environment to determine which traits are advantageous. Both processes show how genes can be inherited, expressed, and modified across generation
