Artificial Life evo-edu.org

Guide use of the digital evolution environment with explicit questions, observations, and comparison points.

Learner Guide

Digital Evolution Lab learner guide

Use Digital Evolution Lab to structure experiments about adaptation, mutation, and evidence rather than treating it as free-play simulation space.

Open application Teacher guide Standards and alignment

Getting Started

What to do first

  • Start with a question about how mutation, selection, or chance might change the population.
  • Run more than one trial and record what changed.
  • Use saved traces, screenshots, or logs as evidence.

Learner tasks

  • Predict what will happen when mutation or selection pressure changes.
  • Run parallel cases and compare adaptation paths.
  • Explain how observed outcomes support or challenge the starting prediction.

Core Question

How do mutation, selection, and history interact to produce adaptation in evolving populations?

Scientific Virtues

Habits to practice

  • State clearly what the model demonstrates and what it does not claim about natural populations.
  • Use repeated runs and comparisons as evidence instead of relying on one striking case.
  • Treat unexpected outcomes as data that may revise the starting explanation.

Continue the thread

Use the Scientific Virtues page to connect model use with evidence, skepticism, and revision.