· Click the "How to Play" button on the bottom left of the screen. Scroll down using the arrow key to read all of the instructions for the game.
· Now click the "Back" button to go back to the game and begin the online interactive. Remember, the goal of this activity is to observe what happens to the bugs (green and orange) in response to an increase or decrease in pollution levels (the color of the background). The pollution level can be altered by dragging the slider either towards the orange factory (more pollution) or towards the green trees (less pollution).
· When you are done with the game, answer the following questions:
1. Which bugs were eaten more when there was a low level of pollution?
2. Which bugs were eaten more when there was a high level of pollution?
3. What factor determined the survival of the bug? Why?
4. TRUE/FALSE: In natural selection, the organisms that are best suited to survive in an environment have the most babies and grow in numbers, while organisms that aren’t as well suited to the environment shrink and disappear.
5. Do you think this process (natural selection) occurs over a short period of time or a long period of time?
· Click on “Learn about Natural Selection” BEFORE playing the “Survival Game”. Answer the following questions from that section:
6. TRUE/FALSE: All members within a species are exactly the same.
7. What is “survival of the fittest”?
· Play the game! Your goal is to survive 1 million years. Read the directions before you play!!
· After you’ve survived for a million years, take the quiz. You must answer 7 out of 10 questions correctly to move on. Raise your hand and I will come by to sign off that you’ve passed.
Explore natural selection by controlling the environment and causing mutations in bunnies. Answer the following questions about this simulation:
8. What are some interesting things that you have control over in the simulation?
9. What happens to the bunny population if a friend is never added? Why is this?
10. What happens when you add a friend? What do you think would happen if the friend was the same gender?
11. What happens if food is infinite and no predators enter the picture?
Your ultimate goal in this game is to survive long enough to reproduce.
BONUS: How many years did you live? How many times did you get to reproduce?
