RAT ISLAND EVOLUTION
The cargo ship, the HMS Jack Russell, set forth 250 years ago from England and was lost at sea never to be seen again. The large
cargo ship was carrying a vast quantity of exotic cheeses which made it almost impossible for the ship's crew to control the rat
population on the ship. Norwegian rats were often found in large numbers on the ship and it is believed that there was a genetically
diverse breeding population onboard.
Reports are now coming in to your lab that the location of the shipwreck has been found and that an island has been discovered with a
very interesting population of living things. As a team of biologists, you are tasked with visiting the island and recording the
following information:
 Geology: The physical features of the island that make it unique and what limiting factors it might have that would affect
living things on the island.
 Ecology: The abiotic and biotic factors that affect living things on the island.
 Botany: Basic plant life found on the island and the traits it might have.
 Zoology: Basic animals found on the island and the traits they might have.
 Genetics: The dominant and recessive traits found in both animal and plant life on the island, how traits are passed on to their
offspring, and how the traits of the population can change over time.
Stage 1: Creating the Stage for Evolution
Your group will be assigned an island. After reading your island characteristics, your group will conduct further online research, and
hold group discussions about the physical traits of your island, and submit a one-page report discussing the specifics of your island,
including:
 Climate
 Physical characteristics
 Resources available
 Biome type
 A detailed, illustrated map that clearly marks the biotic and abiotic traits of the island.
Stage 2: Analyzing Data- The Norwegian Rat
Once the island characteristics have been determined, your group will research the physical and behavioral characteristics of the
Norwegian rat. After conducting research, your group will discuss your findings and identify and determine any traits the Norwegian
rats possess that would make it successful or unsuccessful in the island habitat. Your group will submit a detailed report on the rat
species as it applies to the arrival of the rats on the island, and the report will include possible genetic mutations when considering
their evolvement over time. You must consider and discuss the following questions in your report:
1.
2.
3.
4.
How are traits passed down to future generations? (genetics)
What ways can we predict the inheritability of certain traits?
How could mutations lead to change in the rat over time? (protein synthesis)
What are some of the variations in traits that might lead to differential reproductive success?
Stage 3: Analyzing Data- Plant Differentiation
Using your knowledge of plants and botany, your group will repeat Stage 2 as it applies to any plant of choice that exists on the island.
Stage 4: Synthesizing Data- Class Presentation
Based on the research from Stage 2 and 3, and using the medium of choice (cartoon, animation, clay, movie, skit, story, poem, etc.),
your group will tell the story of your rats, including how they arrived at the island, what the rats characteristics are at the present time,
and predictions regarding what happens to your rat population over the next 1000 years if they remain secluded on the island. You
will consider the following questions as the story is created:
1.
2.
3.
What mutations would allow the rat to be most successful on your island?
Which mutations are they likely to pass on to their offspring?
How many generations of rats will be born in the next 1000 years?
4. What types of traits will be passed on to those generations which will make them successful?