Peer Review

Natural Selection Simulator

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Reviewed:: Oct 10, 2022 by Biology

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Ratings

Overall Rating:

Content Quality:

Effectiveness:

Ease of Use:

Overview:

This online programme is used to simulate a very simple case of Natural Selection. The programme tries to reproduce a studied case of Natural Selection in moths Biston betularia in the nineteenth century. Students become a moth-eating bird and will be the protagonists of Natural Selection. You will see the change in the genotypes and phenotypes of the population. This programme has a guide for the students. You can also download the programme for PC: https://www.colegio-villademostoles.com/J/Biston/Biston.Seleccion%20NaturalWin.zip

Type of Material:

Simulation

Recommended Uses:

Amazing tool to use during a Face to face general biology lab, or an online learning platform for fully online biology classes. Self-paced, easy to understand and use, straight forward. Can be both individual or team assignment.

Technical Requirements:

Best: Browser, PC, Chromebook, Also: Android-Tablet. The simulation also works on an iPhone (in the browser, not an app), but it is a bit clunky.

Identify Major Learning Goals:

To simulate how genotype and phenotype change due to natural selection.To visualize these changes graphically.To understand the role of environment (like tree color, predator activity) in natural selection

Target Student Population:

Grade School, High School, College General Ed

Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:

Knowledge: Definitions of allele, genotype, phenotype. Notation like AA, Aa, aa.

Skills: Students will need basic computer navigational skills. The normal arrow cursor is replaced by a large hummingbird. Students will need to know that the tip of the hummingbird’s beak is what to use to click on something. Otherwise, the interface is very user-friendly.

Content Quality

Rating:

Strengths:

Demonstrates an essential/fundamental principle in evolutionary biology
Citations for further resources are provided and information is accurate
Students can experience natural selection / evolution of a population in a concise and non-threatening way
The program generates graphs for students to interperet at the end of the simulations
The infomration can be seen in Spanish

Concerns:

Students will need to make sense of the graphs themselves, as these are not explicitly explained
The concept would be more complete with some mention of Hardy Weinberg equilibrium and/or calculating allele frequency changes over time
Some context is needed to situate the content within the broader framework of evolution of populations, speciation, etc.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:

Strengths:

Relationships between predator-prey and environment-camouflage are demonstrated well
Students will feel like active participants in natural selection (or “protagonists” as the simulation says)
Easy to use, clear

Concerns:

Learning objectives are not specifically listed
Some information needed to understand the simulation is given in the section titled “Fundamentals,” but certain pre-requisite knowledge like defining alleles, genotype, and phenotype are not included

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:

Strengths:

A timer would even allow students to “race” to see who could change the population the fastest
Available in English and Spanish
Does not need overly advanced computer setup

Concerns:

None

Other Issues and Comments:: Simple straight forward software that is clear in explaining natural selection. It was updated just recently, it is user friendly and it works.
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