Overview
Students will develop an understanding of how populations evolve by studying the case of pocket mice. Students will use computational models to explain the connection between genetic drift, natural selection, and speciation.
Underlying Lessons
Standards
Next Generation Science Standards
- Life Science
- NGSS Crosscutting Concept
- NGSS Practice
Computational Thinking in STEM
- Data Practices
- Modeling and Simulation Practices
- Computational Problem Solving Practices
- Systems Thinking Practices
Credits
Unit co-designed by Sugat Dabholkar in consultation with Teresa Granito of Evanston Township High School
Acknowledgement
CODAP is a computational tool for data analysis and representation developed and built by The Concord Consortium at https://codap.concord.org/
The first four lessons are based on a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Biointeractive (https://www.hhmi.org/biointeractive/pocket-mouse-evolution)
Lesson 5 is based on the lesson Evolution in Action: The Galápagos Finches Authored by Paul Strode for Howard Hughes Medical Institute based on data collected by Peter and Rosemary Grant, Princeton University.
This work is supported by the National Science Foundation (grants CNS-1138461, CNS-1441041 and DRL-1020101) and the Spencer Foundation (grant 201600069). Any opinions, findings, conclusions, and/or recommendations are those of the investigators and do not necessarily reflect the views of the funding organizations.
