Objectives:
Students will use a multimedia simulation to explore the effects of natural selection on a larkey population.

Students will explain that natural selection is the process by which the individuals best adapted to their environment tend to survive, reproduce, and pass on their traits.

Plans:

Sponge: What might happen to a population of spotted and striped larkeys if they had to move to a prairie?

Anticipatory Set: Review sponge and selected problems from “Bikini Bottom Genetics 2” (homework)

Guided Practice:
As a class, complete the Larkey Natural Selection activity – allow students to take turns utilizing the computer and all to record their data

Independent Practice: Reflection questions: #1-3 (worksheet)

Making Meaning:
-Q: What was the selective pressure that affected the larkeys?
-Q: How did the larkey populations respond to selective pressure?
-Q: What do larkeys and walkingsticks have in common?
-Q: Why is this an example of natural selection?

Closure: Complete claim and evidence frame on natural selection

Homework: "Bikini Bottom Genetics 2" due today