Below are ideas for extending this topic beyond the activity & exploration which you just completed.

• Lesson Assessment and Answer Key
• Reading: Scientists of Lizard Island introduces Todd and Yoel, the scientists who studied the lizards of Lizard Island.
• End of Unit Project: How can you figure out ways to save the green anole?
• Activities: A bowl of candy in Candy Dish Selection and a bird beak activity helps students understand how natural selection affects animal populations over time.
• Distance Learning Resource: This online simulation lets student see how natural selection affects the colors of moths.

To show that selection can happen without people, play the Peppered Moth game. Here’s how:

• Open the link. Click on and read “how to play” aloud. At the start of the game, half the moths are light-colored and half are dark.
  
• Click “play game.” Choose to hunt for moths among trees with pale bark or trees with dark bark. Before choosing, ask students whether they think the color of the tree’s bark will make any difference to the moth population.
• Make your choice. Suddenly, you’re a hungry bird, pecking at moths. In the upper left corner, you’ll see a timer and a count of how many moths you’ve eaten. Down below, you’ll see graphs that show how you have affected the moth population.
• When the game ends, make a note of how the moth population changed. Then play again. This time choose the other type of forest. Once again, at the start, half the moths are light colored and half are dark. Note the results of the game.
• Discuss as a class: How would you explain these results?