Population Genetics evo-edu.org

Population genetics simulations and support materials for allele frequency change, drift, selection, mutation, and migration.

Standards

Allele Tracker standards and alignment notes

Allele Tracker is strongest for population thinking, model-based comparison of evolutionary forces, and evidence-based explanation. It should not be taught as if one run settles the mechanism or as if all frequency change is adaptive.

Open application Teacher guide Learner guide

Best fit

Strongest alignment

  • Allele-frequency change in populations
  • Drift versus selection as competing explanations
  • Repeated-run evidence and model-based reasoning
  • Scientific virtues: revision, skepticism, and explicit model limits

Boundary note

Use this route to compare mechanisms, not to flatten all evolution into one deterministic selection story. The legacy runtime is still useful, but it is a simplified model with visible interface and representation limits.

Possible standards connections

High school

  • HS-LS3-3: apply probability and statistics to explain variation and distribution in populations.
  • HS-LS4-2: construct explanations from evidence about how evolutionary processes change populations.
  • HS-LS4-3: support claims about advantageous traits increasing in proportion, while distinguishing that process from drift and migration effects.

College bridge

  • Population genetics and Hardy-Weinberg preparation
  • Quantitative reasoning about stochastic and directional change
  • Model critique and interpretation in introductory evolution courses

Evidence artifacts

Student evidence

  • Repeated-run comparisons with the same parameters
  • Plots showing fixation, loss, or divergence patterns
  • Claim-evidence-reasoning explanation naming the most plausible force
  • Revision note after a conflicting or surprising run

Model critique

  • The route visualizes population-level change well, but still uses a legacy UI and simplified assumptions.
  • One run does not settle the mechanism; repeated comparisons matter.
  • The app is a useful teaching model, not a substitute for full empirical population-genetics evidence.

Fairness and scientific virtues

The standards route should carry forward both intellectual honesty and provenance fairness. When this app is used publicly, the route should identify the older PopG lineage, later porting work, and current evo-edu adaptations instead of implying that the current wrapper originated the underlying model.