Amy Lark
This exercise is based on a 2012 study that examined butterflies in the vicinity of the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant that were exposed to leaked radiation. Students test the study's conclusion that increased mutation rate likely caused the adverse biological effects. An article on this model lesson was published in American Biology Teacher.
Key concepts
- Mutation
- Fitness
- Individual variation
Recommended use
Use this lesson when you want students to evaluate a real-world-inspired claim about mutation rate and connect that claim to evidence from a controlled digital environment.
What students do
- test the effects of mutation-rate changes on digital organisms
- compare evidence from the digital system with a real-world claim
- discuss what the digital evidence can and cannot support