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American Museum of Natural History

Evolution

 

Milstein Family Hall of Ocean Life Educator's Guide: Activity

Natural selection plays a large role in the evolution of a species. The following activity demonstrates this concept.

What you need:

  • newspaper
  • white paper
  • tweezers

What you do:

  1. Randomly place 20 squares of newspaper and 20 squares of white paper on a white paper background on the floor. (This is your hypothetical original population.) Explain to students that the newspaper and white paper pieces represent two different coloration patterns found in the same species.
  2. Ask students to use tweezers to pick up as many pieces of paper as they can in 10 seconds. Students will pick up more newspaper than white paper (because the newspaper is more visible against the white background).
  3. Explain that the remaining pieces of paper are the "breeding pairs." For each pair of paper squares that are left, add one more square of the same kind.
  4. Have students continue picking up squares with tweezers for 10 seconds. Over different turns (which represent generations), a trend will arise in the growing number of white squares.
  5. Track the results on a graph, and explain that this is a model of natural selection. Just as the white squares become greater in number, members of a population of a species with certain characteristics become dominant.
  6. Perform the experiment again, this time using a newspaper background instead of a white background.

Copyright © 2003 American Museum of Natural History. All rights reserved.

  • More About This Resource...

    • This activity, created to accompany the museum's Ocean Life exhibition, demonstrates how natural selection plays a large role in the evolution of species.

      • Students begin by randomly placing squares of newsprint and white paper on a white background to represent two different coloration patterns in the same species.
      • Then, they use a tweezers to pick up as many pieces of paper as they can in 10 seconds, naturally selecting more of the newsprint squares.
      • As the activity continues, they "increase the population" based on remaining breeding pairs and track the growth of the "white square" species across generations.

    • Completion Time

      Less than 1 period

    • Origin

      Educator's Guide

    • Topic

      Biology

    • Subtopic

      Evolution

    • Subtopic

      National Science Education Standards
      Grades K-4:

      • Science as Inquiry CONTENT STANDARD A:• Life Science CONTENT STANDARD C:• Science in Personal and Social Perspectives CONTENT STANDARD F:• History and Nature of Science CONTENT STANDARD G:

      Grades 5-8:

      • Science as Inquiry CONTENT STANDARD A:• Life Science CONTENT STANDARD C:• Science in Personal and Social Perspectives CONTENT STANDARD F:• History and Nature of Science CONTENT STANDARD G:

      Grades 9-12:

      • Science as Inquiry CONTENT STANDARD A:• Life Science CONTENT STANDARD C:• Science in Personal and Social Perspectives CONTENT STANDARD F:• History and Nature of Science CONTENT STANDARD G:

    • Learning Standard

      National Science Education Standards
      Grades K-4:

      • Science as Inquiry CONTENT STANDARD A:• Life Science CONTENT STANDARD C:• Science in Personal and Social Perspectives CONTENT STANDARD F:• History and Nature of Science CONTENT STANDARD G:

      Grades 5-8:

      • Science as Inquiry CONTENT STANDARD A:• Life Science CONTENT STANDARD C:• Science in Personal and Social Perspectives CONTENT STANDARD F:• History and Nature of Science CONTENT STANDARD G:

      Grades 9-12:

      • Science as Inquiry CONTENT STANDARD A:• Life Science CONTENT STANDARD C:• Science in Personal and Social Perspectives CONTENT STANDARD F:• History and Nature of Science CONTENT STANDARD G: