This model allows students to hunt mice like a predator. They can compete with their peers to catch as many mice as possible. The competition yields selection pressure and demonstrates coloration evolution in the mouse population.
Grades: 6-8,
NGSS standards: MS-LS4-4
Mice move around in the simulation window. Each time when one or a few mice are hunted, the same number of mice will be randomly chosen from the rest of the population to reproduce offspring. At a 90% chance, the offspring's color will be the same as the parents'; at a 10% chance, the offspring's color will mutate to a different shade of brown.
Choose an environment color
Click Start/Reset to set up the model
Click Let's hunt! and then hunt mice using your mouse.
This model is created by Dr. Lin Xiang at the University of Kentucky. If you mention this model in a publication, we ask that you include the citations below.
Xiang, L. (2023). Natural Selection Lesson 1: Let's Hunt. Department of STEM Education, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY.
Part of this model code is adopted from Novak and Wilensky's Bug Hunt Speeds model (2005).Â
Novak, M. and Wilensky, U. (2005). NetLogo Bug Hunt Speeds model. http://ccl.northwestern.edu/netlogo/models/BugHuntSpeeds. Center for Connected Learning and Computer-Based Modeling, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL.
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 License. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/.
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