Name ______________________________________ Date _____________ Period _______________
The Making of the Fittest
Activity to complete after watching video “The Making of the Fittest”: You may take notes on the back
of this sheet during the ten minute video, to help you later answer these questions.
1. Explain why a rock pocket mouse’s color influences its overall fitness. Remember that “fitness” is
defined by an organism’s ability to survive and produce offspring.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
2. Look at the four illustrations labeled 2, 3, 4, 5. These represent four “snapshots” in time of mice in
two different locations over one thousand years. Count the mice of light and dark fur color in each
illustration and record this number in the spaces provided above each illustration.
3. Next, place the four illustrations in what you think is the correct order from oldest to most recent.
4. Explain how your group decided which illustration represents the most recent pocket mouse
population and why you positioned the others in the sequence as you did.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
5. Can you explain the presence of dark-colored mice at Location A (light-colored soil)? Why didn’t this
phenotype (outward appearance of genetic information, in this case, mouse fur color) become more
common in the population of Location A?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________