Artificial Life evo-edu.org

Weasel-style selection demonstration for variation, selection, and cumulative change.

Teacher Guide

Cumulative Selection Explorer teacher guide

Use this guide to turn the app into a structured lesson about cumulative selection, comparison with random search, and model criticism.

Open application Learner guide Standards

Quick Start

Recommended band

Upper middle school through introductory college evolution, depending on how strongly you foreground model limitations.

Typical duration

One 20-35 minute investigation or a longer lesson paired with explicit model critique and CER writing.

Device assumptions

Laptop or tablet preferred. The workbench is responsive, but the target and candidate strings are easier to inspect on a wider screen.

Teacher Moves

Set up the question

  • Ask what cumulative selection changes compared with one-step random change.
  • Make the model limits explicit before the first run.
  • Use the app to prompt model critique, not just admiration for speed.

During the run

  • Have learners compare at least two mutation rates or targets.
  • Ask whether higher mutation always improves progress.
  • Keep the distinction between model claim and biological claim explicit.

Suggested Evidence Tasks

Prompt

What does this model demonstrate well about cumulative selection, and what does it leave out about real evolution?

Listen for

  • Explicit recognition that the target is fixed in advance.
  • Willingness to separate “fast convergence in the model” from “adequate explanation of biological evolution.”
  • Evidence-based comparison between runs, not a single striking example.