Natural Selection | 10/15/18-10/1918

Peppered moths by Khaydock

Summary:

       Natural selection is defined as the process by which favorable traits tend to increase in frequency over time. This is just one way animals can change however, animals can also adapt to their environment so that they are better suited for the current state of their habitat. One example of natural selection is with the peppered moth. The peppered moth has two common forms, the dark moth, and the light moth. The two different forms of moths became either less or more common based on the more frequent type of tree (dark tree or light tree) in that generation. So before the 19th century, when the trees were light colored, the most common type of moth was the light colored moth due to how light colored moths were passing down their favorable trait (this favorable trait was being light colored, it was favorable due to how it made them better camouflaged). Whereas during the 19th century, when the trees were dark colored, the most common type of moth was the dark colored moth. This is just how natural selection works, the organisms with the traits that allow them to be better suited for their environment are passed on so that that trait becomes more common. Just as what was occuring with the moths.

S&EP 4-Analyzing and Interpreting Data:

       I analyzed and interpreted data through conducting research on a simulation and plugging the information that I found into tables. I then interpreted that data to answer questions. The data that I analyzed and interpreted was data following the subject mentioned above with the dark/light colored moths and the dark/light colored trees. I spent time in the simulation trying to spot out dark and light colored moths on both of the different colored trees. I then put numbers and percentages into a table to represent my findings about how common these moths were with different colored trees in my simulation over time. After creating the tables, I had to answer questions such as, "Which type of moth do you think was more common during the 19th century? Why?" Another question I had to answer was, "Natural selection is the process by which favorable traits tend to increase in frequency over time. How does this experiment illustrate natural selection?"

XCC-Patterns:

       The pattern I identified this had to do with the most common colored moth and the most common type of tree. What this pattern is is that whatever colored tree is most common for a certain time, is the same color that the most common type of moth will be. For example, in the simulation I conducted, the most common moths that were found when the trees were light colored were light colored moths. Similarly, the most common moths that were found when the trees were dark colored were dark colored moths. We can use this pattern to make future predictions about the population changes of the different types of peppered moths through finding what type of colored tree is most common in a certain area (and how long it has been the most common). We then can predict that whatever color most trees are, is the color that most of the moths will be. This will result in the opposite colored moths population decreasing.