Natural Selection Lesson

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Submission Information
Authors	UTeach Middle School PhET Team
Contact Email	elyse.zimmer@gmail.com
School / Organization	UTeach UT-Austin
Submitted	12/07/25
Updated	12/07/25
Contribution Description
Title	Natural Selection Lesson
Simulations	Natural Selection
Keywords	natural selection, adaptations, limiting factors
Description	Lesson Objectives: 1. Students will be able to understand how adaptations help organisms survive by interpreting ling graphs of the population of a species over time. 2. Students will be able to develop conceptual understanding of natural selection by exploring how limiting factors, abiotic and biotic parts of an ecosystem and mutations interact and contribute to the survival of a species. 3. Students will be able to define positive, negative and neutral mutations and give examples. 4. Students will be able to assess the usefulness of models in scientific investigations. 5. Students will be able to propose modifications to a model by considering how it mimics a real world event. Standards: TEKS Science: 6.2E, 6.3B-C, 6.12E, 7.2E, 7.3B-C, 7.11B-C CCRS Science Standards:VI-C2 Note: The scripted version includes additional teacher resources, such as, background content, common misconceptions and a vocabulary list. It also has all worksheets as editable content.
Duration	60 minutes
Answers Included	Yes
Language	English

	Content Level
Content Standard	K-4	5-8	9-12
Science as Inquiry - A
Physical Science - B
Life Science - C
Earth & Space Science - D
Science & Technology - E
Science in Personal and Social Perspective - F
History and Nature of Science - G

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Reason for nomination

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