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?"
Their light wings are "peppered" with small dark spots.
2. What animals eat the peppered moth?
Flycatchers, nuthatches, and the European robin.
3. What is a lichen?
The small fungi that live on a tree's bark.
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?
The moth larvae will change into pupae (cocoons) for the winter.
6. Moths that have more dark spots than the average moth are called what?
Insularia
Impact of Pollution
7. Where was the first black form of the moth found?
Near the centre of Manchester
8. What was the Industrial Revolution?
A period of time when the production of goods if factories, using machinery, replaced the making of goods by hand.
9. What was causing the different colors in the moths?
A mutation in the DNA of a single moth that was passed on to its offspring.
10. What is natural selection?
The process where organisms better adapt to their environment, of die.
11. Who suggested that peppered moths were an example of natural selection?
J. W. Tutt
12. What is industrial melanism?
The darkness of an organisms skin acquired by a population of animals living in a soot-darkened environment.
Kettlewell's Experiments
13. What is an entomologist?
A scientist who studies insects.
14. How do scientists test theories?
They make a prediction, and then test it to see if what they observe matches their expectations.
15. Write down ONE of Kettlewell's predictions.
Heavily polluted forests will have mostly dark peppered moths.
16. Dark moths were found in what parts of the country?
Industrial cities
17. How did Kettlewell directly study the moths?
He placed light and dark moths on the trunks of trees, and recorded the times a bird found the moth.
18. Why did dark moths have a survival advantage?
They could not be spotted as easily in dark forests.
19. When Kettlewell recaptured the marked moths, what did he find?
Twice as many light moths lived to be recaptured than dark moths.
20. Where did Kettlewell publish his findings?
An article in 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.
Dark Forest Light Forest
38% Light moths 87% Light moths
62% Dark Moths 13% Dark Moths
Final Analysis
22. Explain how the color of the moths increases or decreases their chances of survival.
The color of the moths increases their chance of survival, because it is harder for predators to find them.
23. Explain the concept of "natural selection" using your moths as an example.
The dark moths in a light forest will not survive, and neither will the light moths in a dark forest.
24. What would happen if there were no predators in the forest? Would the colors of the moths change over time? Defend your answer?
Both the dark and the light moths would live in harmony, because there is no need for them to adapt to their surroundings.
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?"
Their light wings are "peppered" with small dark spots.
2. What animals eat the peppered moth?
Flycatchers, nuthatches, and the European robin.
3. What is a lichen?
The small fungi that live on a tree's bark.
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?
The moth larvae will change into pupae (cocoons) for the winter.
6. Moths that have more dark spots than the average moth are called what?
Insularia
Impact of Pollution
7. Where was the first black form of the moth found?
Near the centre of Manchester
8. What was the Industrial Revolution?
A period of time when the production of goods if factories, using machinery, replaced the making of goods by hand.
9. What was causing the different colors in the moths?
A mutation in the DNA of a single moth that was passed on to its offspring.
10. What is natural selection?
The process where organisms better adapt to their environment, of die.
11. Who suggested that peppered moths were an example of natural selection?
J. W. Tutt
12. What is industrial melanism?
The darkness of an organisms skin acquired by a population of animals living in a soot-darkened environment.
Kettlewell's Experiments
13. What is an entomologist?
A scientist who studies insects.
14. How do scientists test theories?
They make a prediction, and then test it to see if what they observe matches their expectations.
15. Write down ONE of Kettlewell's predictions.
Heavily polluted forests will have mostly dark peppered moths.
16. Dark moths were found in what parts of the country?
Industrial cities
17. How did Kettlewell directly study the moths?
He placed light and dark moths on the trunks of trees, and recorded the times a bird found the moth.
18. Why did dark moths have a survival advantage?
They could not be spotted as easily in dark forests.
19. When Kettlewell recaptured the marked moths, what did he find?
Twice as many light moths lived to be recaptured than dark moths.
20. Where did Kettlewell publish his findings?
An article in 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.
Dark Forest Light Forest
38% Light moths 87% Light moths
62% Dark Moths 13% Dark Moths
Final Analysis
22. Explain how the color of the moths increases or decreases their chances of survival.
The color of the moths increases their chance of survival, because it is harder for predators to find them.
23. Explain the concept of "natural selection" using your moths as an example.
The dark moths in a light forest will not survive, and neither will the light moths in a dark forest.
24. What would happen if there were no predators in the forest? Would the colors of the moths change over time? Defend your answer?
Both the dark and the light moths would live in harmony, because there is no need for them to adapt to their surroundings.