http://askabiologist.asu.edu/sites/default/files/PepperMoth/peppe
r-moths.swf
Name(s)
_______________
_______________ Date______ Period____
Click on the buttons and answer the questions below, clicking the arrows on the right of
each page to advance.
Life Cycle
1. How big are these moths?
2. Why are they called “peppered” moths?
3. What are three predators of the moths?
4. What is the moth’s best defense against predation?
5. What is“lichen”? (look it up online)
6. When do peppered moth eggs hatch?
7. Moths go through a life cycle called “complete metamorphosis”.
The stages, in order are: egg  larva  _______  adult.
Impact of Pollution
1. What is the scientific name (genus, species) of the peppered moth?
2. When and where was the first black moth sighted?
3. How did factory smoke change the appearance of the surrounding trees in the forest?
4. What genetic mechanism do you think might have produced the first black moth?
Kettlewell’s Experiments
1. What does an “entomologist” study?
2. During what time period (years) did Dr. Kettlewell carry out his study of the peppered
moths?
3. In what country did he do his research?
4. Did Dr. Kettlewell observe moths in both polluted and unpolluted forests?
Yes/No (circle one)
1
5. Did Kettlewell watch and record direct observations of birds finding and eating dark and
light moths in both forests with dark and with light-colored tree trunks? Yes/No (circle one)
6. According to Kettlewell’s data, what color moths had a survival advantage in dark
(polluted) forests?
7. As part of his study, did Kettlewell also collect “mark and recapture” data from dark and
light moths in both dark and light forests? Yes/No (circle one)
8. According to Kettlewell’s data, what color moths survived predator in higher numbers in
the less-polluted forests?
Bird’s Eye View
Read the directions on the screen. You will play the role of a predatory bird whose goal is to
eat as many moths as possible in one minute.
Use your mouse pad to move around on the screen and CLICK on a moth to eat it (and
eliminate it from the population). First you will hunt in a light forest (unpolluted), then again
in a dark (polluted) forest.
Observe that there are two phenotypic variations of moths you can eat, dark, or light.
The moths will fly past or land on the forest background, so click on them quickly! Note that
you can only eat the moving moths, because birds respond to motion
Watch the clock in the upper corner of the screen. After a minute of hunting for moths,
record your results in the chart below. The percentages displayed indicate the number of
moths of each type remaining in the forest after predation.
Repeat the same process for the other forest. Your partner should also “hunt” in both
forests. Record all percentages after 1 minute of predation.
Data Table: Partner 1
Percent Dark Moths
remaining (after predation)
Percent Light Moths
remaining (after predation)
Percent Dark Moths
remaining (after predation)
Percent Light Moths
remaining (after predation)
Light Forest
Dark Forest
Data Table: Partner 2
Light Forest
Dark Forest
2
Post-Activity Questions: Answer the following. Read carefully! These questions have
multiple parts that need to be addressed.
1. Look at your results you wrote in the Data Table(s) on the prior page. Is this what you
would have expected to get? Explain why or why not. Could there have been an error made
in your moth-eating game?
2. Briefly explain how the color of moths increases or decreases their chances of survival
depending on the environment. What two environmental factors were “selecting”
survivors?
3. CASE STUDY: 500 light colored moths and 500 dark colored moths are captured by
researchers, then marked and released into a polluted forest. After 2 days, the remaining
moths were recaptured by the researchers.
Make a prediction about the number of each type of moth that would be captured.
(Mathematically base this answer on YOUR actual results from prior page Data Table 1 or 2,
whichever yields better data). For full credit, you need to show me how you calculated your
answer.
3
4. How has the striking change in moth coloration come about? Include an explanation of
how the dark phenotype first appeared and how the proportion of dark moths changed from
a mere 0.0005% to more than 90% in polluted forests.
5. What underlying law of nature has produced this change? Base your response on Darwin's
theory of evolution and apply it to what you have learned in this investigation.
4