Essential Knowledge 1.A.2:

Peppered Moth Questions

21.)

22.)
The color of the moth increases chance of survival because it allows the moth to blend into their surroundings, making it harder for predators to spot them. So, in a dark polluted forest, dark colored moths will survive better because birds cannot spot them.

23.)
Natural Selection is the process of evolution favoring the 'more fit to live' over the weak. This means that organisms that are better able to adapt to their surroundings, are more likely to survive and produce offspring. So in the case of a dark polluted forest that is home to peppered moths, the dark colored moths will be a greater percentage of the population than the light colored moths because the dark color increased chance of survival, allowing the moths to blend into their environment.

24.)
If there were no predators in the forest, peppered moths would not feel the pressure of natural selection because there is no force that is weeding out the 'weak'. As a result, the population will either stay the same, as there is no reason to favor any colored moth since there are no pressures acting on survival based on the ability to camouflage.

Using peppered moths, explain and justify how an evolutionary change in population is related to a change in the environment. What role do humans play in this change? What is the impact in the future of this change?
Take a look at the forest in which the peppered moth normally lives in, and observe the appearance of the trees and the appearance of the moths. The peppered moth lives in a light colored forest, and most of the population is light colored to blend in and hide from predators. But when such a forest starts to become polluted, and the trees start to turn dark, this influences the population to change in order for the species to continue to survive. Now, in this dark polluted forest, you will find dark moths in greater numbers than light moths. This is how an evolution change in population is related to a change in the environment. Humans play a role in this by unnaturally introducing materials in to the world that make it hard for species to survive, often driving them to extinction. The future of this change can eventually change the entire environment of the Earth, as well as lead to the extinction of humans. All species and all environments are they way they are, because they need to interact with one another in they way they do, in order for this Earth to exist as it does.