Peppered Moth Simulation
Data and Analysis
Read the background information and answer the questions as you go.
Life Cycle of the Peppered Moth
1. Why are these moths called "peppered moths?"
Because their wings are "peppered"
2. What animals eat the peppered moth?
Flycatchers, nuthatches, and european robins
3. What is a lichen?
Plants that are primary in terms of succession.
4. What do the larvae of the moth eat?
The leaves of birch, willow, and oak trees.
5. How do peppered moths spend the winter?
In cocoons, known as pupae.
6. Moths that have more dark spots than the average moth are called what?
Carbonaria
Impact of Pollution
7. Where was the first black form of the moth found?
In Manchester
8. What was the Industrial Revolution?
Factories were being built and coal was being used for the production of goods
9. What was causing the different colors in the moths?
The colors of the moths were genetic.
10. What is natural selection?
The withering of populations over time due to various adaptations.
11. Who suggested that peppered moths were an example of natural selection?
J. W. Tutt
12. What is industrial melanism?
When pollution affected the color of the moths wings.
Kettlewell's Experiments
13. What is an entomologist?
A scientist who studied insects.
14. How do scientists test theories?
They make predictions based on the theory
15. Write down ONE of Kettlewell's predictions.
Heavily polluted forests must have darker colored moths.
16. Dark moths were found in what parts of the country?
Near industrial cities that created pollution.
17. How did Kettlewell directly study the moths?
He compared his information with the info. from the past.
18. Why did dark moths have a survival advantage?
Because they would blend in to the trees that were dark from pollution.
19. When Kettlewell recaptured the marked moths, what did he find?
That if the moth's color matched it's environment, it had a more likely-hood to survive.
20. Where did Kettlewell publish his findings?
In the book: Scientific American.
Birdseye View
21. Open the simulation and play the role of the bird in both the dark and the light forest. Try to behave as a bird would behave, choosing the moths that are the most obvious. At the end of each simulation, record the percent of moths captured in the table below.
Light Forest=
Light moths-73%
Dark moths-27%
Dark Forest=
Light moths-41%
Dark moths-59%
Final Analysis
22. Explain how the color of the moths increases or decreases their chances of survival.
When the moth's color matches the color of the forest they are living in, they have a higher chance of survival because they can blend in to their surroundings, and hide from predators.
23. Explain the concept of "natural selection" using your moths as an example.
When the color of the moth blends in to their surroundings, they won't get eaten very much, which affects the number of them in a certain forest dramatically. they will continue to grow and the ones that don't live will die out and cease to exist.
24. What would happen if there were no predators in the forest? Would the colors of the moths change over time? Defend your answer.
Read the background information and answer the questions as you go.
Life Cycle of the Peppered Moth
1. Why are these moths called "peppered moths?"
Because their wings are "peppered"
2. What animals eat the peppered moth?
Flycatchers, nuthatches, and european robins
3. What is a lichen?
Plants that are primary in terms of succession.
4. What do the larvae of the moth eat?
The leaves of birch, willow, and oak trees.
5. How do peppered moths spend the winter?
In cocoons, known as pupae.
6. Moths that have more dark spots than the average moth are called what?
Carbonaria
Impact of Pollution
7. Where was the first black form of the moth found?
In Manchester
8. What was the Industrial Revolution?
Factories were being built and coal was being used for the production of goods
9. What was causing the different colors in the moths?
The colors of the moths were genetic.
10. What is natural selection?
The withering of populations over time due to various adaptations.
11. Who suggested that peppered moths were an example of natural selection?
J. W. Tutt
12. What is industrial melanism?
When pollution affected the color of the moths wings.
Kettlewell's Experiments
13. What is an entomologist?
A scientist who studied insects.
14. How do scientists test theories?
They make predictions based on the theory
15. Write down ONE of Kettlewell's predictions.
Heavily polluted forests must have darker colored moths.
16. Dark moths were found in what parts of the country?
Near industrial cities that created pollution.
17. How did Kettlewell directly study the moths?
He compared his information with the info. from the past.
18. Why did dark moths have a survival advantage?
Because they would blend in to the trees that were dark from pollution.
19. When Kettlewell recaptured the marked moths, what did he find?
That if the moth's color matched it's environment, it had a more likely-hood to survive.
20. Where did Kettlewell publish his findings?
In the book: Scientific American.
Birdseye View
21. Open the simulation and play the role of the bird in both the dark and the light forest. Try to behave as a bird would behave, choosing the moths that are the most obvious. At the end of each simulation, record the percent of moths captured in the table below.
Light Forest=
Light moths-73%
Dark moths-27%
Dark Forest=
Light moths-41%
Dark moths-59%
Final Analysis
22. Explain how the color of the moths increases or decreases their chances of survival.
When the moth's color matches the color of the forest they are living in, they have a higher chance of survival because they can blend in to their surroundings, and hide from predators.
23. Explain the concept of "natural selection" using your moths as an example.
When the color of the moth blends in to their surroundings, they won't get eaten very much, which affects the number of them in a certain forest dramatically. they will continue to grow and the ones that don't live will die out and cease to exist.
24. What would happen if there were no predators in the forest? Would the colors of the moths change over time? Defend your answer.
- The moths would ...