Artificial Selection

Humans love to tinker with things - even genetics! Over time, humans have changed species to be more to our liking through a process called artificial selection, or sometimes called selective breeding. Through this process, we have created new animal and plant species and/or made major modifications to the appearance of a species. In this challenge, you will choose one species that have undergone artificial selection by humans and chart how the species has changed because of this selection.

Task:

1. Learn about artificial selection (or selective breeding).

2. Choose a species that humans have changed through artificial selection or selective breeding.

3. Find out which traits have been selected for and which traits have been selected against and how the species has changed over time due to the selection of these traits. Why were some traits chosen and others not?

4. Diagram this selection process, showing how the species has changed over time, or how it has changed into multiple breeds.

5. Create a final product. This could be a comic strip, children's book, poster, or video that includes:

A description of artificial selection/selective breeding.
An explanation of the selective breeding of the chosen species and how it has changed over time.
A diagram depicting the changes.

Level 4: Predict how this species might change over time as humans continue to practice selective breeding. Include a picture of what the species might look like in the future.

Learning Targets

Biodiversity and Evolution Step 4: Natural Selection

Scoring Guide