Teacher Guide

Digital Evolution Lab teacher guide

Use this guide to frame Avida-ED as an experimental environment for evidence and comparison, not as a black-box animation of evolution.

Open application Learner guide Standards and alignment

Lesson Framing

Teacher emphasis

Frame each run around a question about change over time rather than just a target outcome.
Have learners compare multiple runs so chance and historical contingency stay visible.
Use screenshots, logs, or saved states as evidence for explanations.

Suggested sequence

Set a prediction about mutation, selection, or environmental change.
Run parallel cases and compare outcomes.
Ask what evidence supports adaptation, drift-like variation, or contingency claims.

Discussion Moves

Questions to ask

What changed across repeated runs, and what stayed stable?
Which outcomes look like selection, and which look like path dependence or chance?
What evidence would make the explanation stronger?

Model-limit reminders

The runtime is a digital-evolution environment, not a literal simulation of every biological detail.
Interface familiarity can distract from the inquiry if the teacher does not frame the first task clearly.
Use the environment to discuss evidence and model assumptions, not to imply that digital and biological evolution are identical.