Name: ___________________________________ Date: _____________________

Evolution by Natural Selection Project (Science 10)

In this assignment, you will use an illustrated storybook or comic strip to demonstrate your
understanding of adaptations, fitness, and the process of natural selection.

Requirements:
1. Describe the population. (Note: it is assumed that the population has lived here for a very long
time and has already evolved adaptations for survival and reproduction in this environment.)
o What is the species?
o What environment does your population live in?
o How is the organism adapted to its ecological role and its environment? (Describe at least
3 adaptations: finding food, avoiding predators, attracting mates, movement in its
environment, survival in its climate)
o How large is the population (how many individuals)?
o What genetic variation exists in the population, for the trait you are interested in? Which
variants are most common, and why?
2. Describe the selective pressure (e.g. new predator, competition for food or mates, change to food
source, change to environmental conditions).
3. Describe how the frequency of your trait changes in response to the selective pressure, over
many generations.
4. If you used any external research and images (including drawing references) in your assignment,
you must cite your sources in an informal bibliography (copying and pasting links is sufficient:
no need for proper citations).

Notes:

 Remember: evolution happens to populations (groups of living things), not to individuals!

 Evolution by natural selection is not immediate. Even in the presence of a strong selective
pressure, it will usually take multiple generations to take place.
 Evolution is the change in frequency of traits, e.g. one trait becoming more common than another.
Restrictions:

 Do not choose mice. Fictional creatures are recommended.

 Try to avoid “fur colour” or “feather colour” as your trait…pick something different!
 Avoid replicating a documented example of natural selection (e.g. do not just google “example
natural selection” and then copy it in your story).

Marking Rubric
Note: a “Developing” in all categories is required to minimally pass this assignment. If a pass is not
attained, the assignment will need to be repeated.

Rubric: Extending Proficient Developing Emerging

Content Accuracy  All required components
included and accurate.
 A masterful understanding
of evolution by natural
selection has been
demonstrated.
 All required components
included and accurate.
 A proficient understanding
of evolution by natural
selection has been
demonstrated.
 The project has all of the
required components. Some
errors or gaps in conceptual
understanding are evident.
 A developing understanding
of evolution by natural
selection has been
demonstrated.
 The project is missing
important required
information and
components. Major gaps in
conceptual understanding
are evident.

Clarity of  All ideas are clearly  Most ideas are clearly  Some ideas are clearly  Ideas are disjointed and can
communicated and easy to communicated. communicated. be difficult to understand.
Communication understand.  Story structure is fairly  Errors in grammar, sentence  Frequent errors in grammar,
 Story flows well and is simplistic and structure, and spelling can sentence structure, and
interesting and/or straightforward. affect overall meaning. spelling obscure overall
entertaining.  Minor errors in grammar, meaning.
 Proper grammar, sentence sentence structure, and
structure, and spelling used spelling do not detract from
throughout.  overall meaning. 

Illustrations and  The choice of pictures
complements the text and
Composition information nicely and gives
additional details to the
reader. There is a good
balance between text and
illustrations.
 The assignment is colourful,
attractive, and well-
organized.
 The choice of pictures
frequently goes well with
the text. There is a good
balance between text and
illustrations.
 It is evident that effort has
been put into making the
assignment attractive and
well-organized.
 There are a limited number
of graphics, some of which
do not enhance the
information in the text.
 The assignment would
benefit from more effort into
attractiveness and
organization.
 There are no graphics
included or those that have
been incorporated do not
correspond to the
information being
communicated.
 The assignment is haphazard
and messy, with little care or
effort shown.
Partial Example (without illustrations)

What Criteria Does This “Story”

Meet?
1. Population Once upon a time, there lived a community of 500 small mice in a forest. As they had lived in
Setting this forest for many years, they were well suited to their environment and their lifestyle.

They worked collaboratively towards common goals, which gave them an edge over other
Adaptation 1 nearby mouse communities. Working together, the mice divided up their territory into smaller
sections, with smaller groups of mice being responsible for gathering food in each area. Mice
who lived in more prosperous areas shared resources with others. In this way, all the mice were
able to obtain enough to eat.

Their biggest concern was predators. The mouse population was kept in check by raptorial birds
(owls, hawks), wild cats, and snakes.
A structural adaptation that helped the mice hide from predators was their remarkable hearing.
Mice could hear the smallest of sounds from 100 meters away. They would then freeze to
Adaptation 2 minimize visibility or scurry away to a hiding place.
The mice were also well-camouflaged in their environment. [continued below]

Adaptation 3
2. Evolution by Natural Most of the mice were brown, which helped them blend in with the dirt of the forest floor, but
Selection there were also some that were varying shades of yellow, as well. These ones were able to
a. Variation blend in with fallen leaves. These variants were present in equal numbers.
b. Selective As the years passed, however, the sky grew darker as pollution levels in the atmosphere
pressure increased. The forest struggled, and many of the great trees died. Shrubs and other living
organisms that had depended upon the shade of the great trees were unable to cope, and also
ceased to exist in the forest. Enough time passed, and what had once been a forest became
desolate. The once-fertile soil eroded away and was replaced with pale yellow sand.
The mouse population was hit hard by these changes. Many mice died because of the changes
in climate and their habitat. In particular, brown mice died more frequently: not only did they
have the environmental changes to contend with, but they also were hunted more frequently
because their fur colour no longer helped them camouflage with their habitat. The yellow mice
did better, as their fur that had allowed them to camouflage with the leaves now also allowed
them to camouflage against the pale yellow sand.
c. Change in Many generations passed. Because the yellow mice had been more successful at surviving in
frequency their new environment, they were also more successful at passing on their yellow-fur genes to
their offspring. Successive generations had increasing numbers of yellow-furred mice. Over
time, the population became mostly made of mice with yellow fur. The mice had evolved.