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Student Worksheet
Phenomenon: Rock Pocket Mice & Natural Selection
Name: ____________________________
Class / Period: ____________________
Date: ___________________________
Part 1: Observing the Phenomenon (Before Watching)
Describe the two different environments where rock pocket mice live:
Environment 1: ___________________________________________
Environment 2: ___________________________________________
What differences in fur color do you predict might help mice survive in each environment?
What role do you think predators might play in determining which mice survive?
Part 2: Evidence from the Video (During Watching)
Answer the questions as you watch the video.
What variation exists within the rock pocket mouse population?
☐ Fur color
☐ Size
☐ Speed
☐ All mice are identical
Which predator hunts rock pocket mice in the video?
On dark lava rock, which mice are more likely to survive?
☐ Light‑colored mice
☐ Dark‑colored mice
☐ Both equally
Explain why those mice survive better:
How did dark‑colored mice first appear in the population?
☐ They changed color to survive
☐ The environment caused their fur to darken
☐ A random genetic mutation occurred
☐ Predators trained them to hide
Is mutation random or purposeful?
☐ Random
☐ Purposeful
Part 3: Understanding Natural Selection (After Watching)
Define natural selection in your own words:
Why do dark‑colored mice become more common on lava rock over many generations?
Do individual mice evolve, or do populations evolve? Explain.
Why do dark mice still have light‑colored bellies, even on dark lava?
Part 4: NGSS‑Aligned Analysis (Cause & Effect)
Complete the cause‑and‑effect chain below:
Dark lava rock forms →
________________________________________________ →
________________________________________________ →
Part 5: CER (Claim–Evidence–Reasoning)
Claim
Make a claim about fur color and survival in rock pocket mice.
Claim:
Evidence
Provide two pieces of evidence from the video that support your claim.
Evidence 1: ______________________________________________
Evidence 2: ______________________________________________
Reasoning
Explain how natural selection connects your evidence to your claim.
Understanding
Predict what would happen if the lava rock were replaced with light sand again.
How does this example show that evolution can happen relatively quickly?
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Student Worksheet — Completed Example
Phenomenon: Rock Pocket Mice & Natural Selection
Name: ____________________________
Class / Period: ____________________
Date: ___________________________
Part 1: Observing the Phenomenon (Before Watching)
Describe the two different environments where rock pocket mice live:
Environment 1: Light-colored sandy desert / soils and small rocks
Environment 2: Dark volcanic lava rock (black lava flows)
What differences in fur color do you predict might help mice survive in each environment?
Light-colored fur helps mice blend into sandy environments; dark-colored (melanic) fur helps mice blend into dark lava.
What role do you think predators might play in determining which mice survive?
Predators spot and eat mice that stand out against the background. Mice that are better camouflaged avoid predation and are more likely to survive and reproduce, so predators indirectly select for fur colors that match the environment.
Part 2: Evidence from the Video (During Watching)
Answer the questions as you watch the video.
What variation exists within the rock pocket mouse population?
☑ Fur color
☐ Size
☐ Speed
☐ All mice are identical
Which predator hunts rock pocket mice in the video?
A visually hunting predator, such as a barn owl (or other raptor), is shown hunting the mice.
On dark lava rock, which mice are more likely to survive?
☐ Light‑colored mice
☑ Dark‑colored mice
☐ Both equally
Explain why those mice survive better:
Dark-colored mice are camouflaged against the dark lava, so predators are less likely to see and catch them. Camouflage reduces predation and increases survival and reproduction.
How did dark‑colored mice first appear in the population?
☐ They changed color to survive
☐ The environment caused their fur to darken
☑ A random genetic mutation occurred
☐ Predators trained them to hide
Is mutation random or purposeful?
☑ Random
☐ Purposeful
Part 3: Understanding Natural Selection (After Watching)
Define natural selection in your own words:
Natural selection is the process where individuals with traits better suited to their environment survive and reproduce more successfully, causing those advantageous traits to become more common in the population over generations.
Why do dark‑colored mice become more common on lava rock over many generations?
Because dark mice are less likely to be seen and eaten on dark lava, they survive at higher rates and produce more offspring. The genes for dark fur are therefore passed on more often and increase in frequency in the population.
Do individual mice evolve, or do populations evolve? Explain.
Populations evolve. Individual mice do not change their genes during their lifetime; instead, the frequency of traits (and the genes underlying them) changes across many individuals in the population over generations.
Why do dark mice still have light‑colored bellies, even on dark lava?
Their bellies are less visible to predators (often facing the ground), and patterns like countershading may be maintained by other selective pressures or genetic/developmental constraints. The mutation(s) that cause dark dorsal fur may not affect the belly.
Part 4: NGSS‑Aligned Analysis (Cause & Effect)
Complete the cause‑and‑effect chain below:
Dark lava rock forms →
Light-colored mice become more visible to predators on the dark background →
Dark-colored mice survive and reproduce more, so dark fur becomes more common in the population
Part 5: CER (Claim–Evidence–Reasoning)
Claim
Make a claim about fur color and survival in rock pocket mice.
Claim:
On dark lava rock, dark‑colored fur increases survival because it provides better camouflage from predators.
Evidence
Provide two pieces of evidence from the video that support your claim.
Evidence 1: The video shows light-colored mice being spotted and captured more often on dark lava surfaces.
Evidence 2: Surveys/observations in the video show a higher proportion of dark-colored mice living on the lava flows than in the surrounding light sandy areas.
Reasoning
Explain how natural selection connects your evidence to your claim.
Camouflage is an adaptive trait: mice whose fur matches their environment are less likely to be detected by predators, so they survive and reproduce at higher rates. Over generations, alleles for the camouflaging fur increase in frequency in populations exposed to that environment, which explains the higher number of dark mice on lava flows.
Understanding
Predict what would happen if the lava rock were replaced with light sand again.
If the lava were replaced by light sand, light-colored mice would be better camouflaged and therefore less likely to be eaten. Over time, selection would favor light fur and the frequency of light-colored mice would increase while dark mice would decline.
How does this example show that evolution can happen relatively quickly?
Strong, consistent predation pressure creates rapid changes in survival and reproduction. Because selection acts each generation, the frequency of advantageous alleles (like those for dark fur) can rise noticeably within only a few generations, producing observable evolutionary change on short time scales.
Phenomenon: Rock Pocket Mice & Natural Selection
Name: ____________________________
Class / Period: ____________________
Date: ___________________________
Part 1: Observing the Phenomenon (Before Watching)
Describe the two different environments where rock pocket mice live:
Environment 1: Light-colored sandy desert / soils and small rocks
Environment 2: Dark volcanic lava rock (black lava flows)
What differences in fur color do you predict might help mice survive in each environment?
Light-colored fur helps mice blend into sandy environments; dark-colored (melanic) fur helps mice blend into dark lava.
What role do you think predators might play in determining which mice survive?
Predators spot and eat mice that stand out against the background. Mice that are better camouflaged avoid predation and are more likely to survive and reproduce, so predators indirectly select for fur colors that match the environment.
Part 2: Evidence from the Video (During Watching)
Answer the questions as you watch the video.
What variation exists within the rock pocket mouse population?
☑ Fur color
☐ Size
☐ Speed
☐ All mice are identical
Which predator hunts rock pocket mice in the video?
A visually hunting predator, such as a barn owl (or other raptor), is shown hunting the mice.
On dark lava rock, which mice are more likely to survive?
☐ Light‑colored mice
☑ Dark‑colored mice
☐ Both equally
Explain why those mice survive better:
Dark-colored mice are camouflaged against the dark lava, so predators are less likely to see and catch them. Camouflage reduces predation and increases survival and reproduction.
How did dark‑colored mice first appear in the population?
☐ They changed color to survive
☐ The environment caused their fur to darken
☑ A random genetic mutation occurred
☐ Predators trained them to hide
Is mutation random or purposeful?
☑ Random
☐ Purposeful
Part 3: Understanding Natural Selection (After Watching)
Define natural selection in your own words:
Natural selection is the process where individuals with traits better suited to their environment survive and reproduce more successfully, causing those advantageous traits to become more common in the population over generations.
Why do dark‑colored mice become more common on lava rock over many generations?
Because dark mice are less likely to be seen and eaten on dark lava, they survive at higher rates and produce more offspring. The genes for dark fur are therefore passed on more often and increase in frequency in the population.
Do individual mice evolve, or do populations evolve? Explain.
Populations evolve. Individual mice do not change their genes during their lifetime; instead, the frequency of traits (and the genes underlying them) changes across many individuals in the population over generations.
Why do dark mice still have light‑colored bellies, even on dark lava?
Their bellies are less visible to predators (often facing the ground), and patterns like countershading may be maintained by other selective pressures or genetic/developmental constraints. The mutation(s) that cause dark dorsal fur may not affect the belly.
Part 4: NGSS‑Aligned Analysis (Cause & Effect)
Complete the cause‑and‑effect chain below:
Dark lava rock forms →
Light-colored mice become more visible to predators on the dark background →
Dark-colored mice survive and reproduce more, so dark fur becomes more common in the population
Part 5: CER (Claim–Evidence–Reasoning)
Claim
Make a claim about fur color and survival in rock pocket mice.
Claim:
On dark lava rock, dark‑colored fur increases survival because it provides better camouflage from predators.
Evidence
Provide two pieces of evidence from the video that support your claim.
Evidence 1: The video shows light-colored mice being spotted and captured more often on dark lava surfaces.
Evidence 2: Surveys/observations in the video show a higher proportion of dark-colored mice living on the lava flows than in the surrounding light sandy areas.
Reasoning
Explain how natural selection connects your evidence to your claim.
Camouflage is an adaptive trait: mice whose fur matches their environment are less likely to be detected by predators, so they survive and reproduce at higher rates. Over generations, alleles for the camouflaging fur increase in frequency in populations exposed to that environment, which explains the higher number of dark mice on lava flows.
Understanding
Predict what would happen if the lava rock were replaced with light sand again.
If the lava were replaced by light sand, light-colored mice would be better camouflaged and therefore less likely to be eaten. Over time, selection would favor light fur and the frequency of light-colored mice would increase while dark mice would decline.
How does this example show that evolution can happen relatively quickly?
Strong, consistent predation pressure creates rapid changes in survival and reproduction. Because selection acts each generation, the frequency of advantageous alleles (like those for dark fur) can rise noticeably within only a few generations, producing observable evolutionary change on short time scales.
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