| Product Name: |
Simulated Evolution |
| Level: |
First Year Tertiary |
| Platform: |
PC - DOS |
| Supplied Information: |
This program simulates the evolution of hunting behavior in a predator/prey situation. The computer screen represents a microscopic patch of primeval lake bottom. Protozoa, or "bugs," move about the screen devouring bacteria, which are their source of energy. Each bug's behavior is genetically determined by a "chromosome" consisting of six "gene numbers," which control the bug's cruising pattern.
A bug reproduces when:
1.It has accumulated sufficient energy
2.It is old enough to be considered "mature". Reproduction is not exact: the two offspring differ slightly from the parent bug (and from each other). This is effected, at birth, by a random mutation of one gene number per offspring.
All the essential elements of the evolution (variation & natural selection) are present in the simulation. There is not one line of code in the program that tells the bugs how to solve their problems. They truly live, die, and evolve according to their own genetic merits (and the chance circumstances of existence in their environment). Four different species of bug have been seen to evolve on the screen (these are described in the User's Manual in the chapter called "Natural History of the Bugs." Also, various "genetic disorders" are occasionally seen among the bugs. |
| Possible Use: |
This product is suitable for First Year Tertiary courses for use by teachers during laboratory classes. |
| Price: |
$40.00 US sinle user, site licence $199.60 |
| Developer/s: |
Michael Palmiter |
| Review: |
"Simulated Evolution" uses computer animation to illustrate evolution by the process of natural selection. Animated "bugs" (simulating protozoa) populate a "pond" on the computer screen. Selective pressure due to the competition for food favours adaptive mutations as the bugs reproduce, and students can observe the evolution of adaptive feeding behaviours (changes to the phenotype) at the same time as tracking changes in the genotype of the bugs.
Another feature of the program allows students to "design" bugs with a genetic makeup of their own choosing and then to test the effectiveness of their feeding behaviour within the program. This encourages students to form links between asn understanding of the genetic makeup of a bug (its genotype) and the expression of the genetic makeup (its phenotype).
The program can be run in a number of different modes and with a wide range of starting conditions (different population density of "bugs", different distribution of food resources etc). The program has a built-in facility for recording the events occurring on the screen. This enables students to view a "quick replay" of any particular run of the program.
The program can be used to illustrate the following concepts to undergraduate students of biological/environmental science. There is scope to either skim the surface of these concepts, or to probe a little deeper:
From population dynamics: cyclic population fluctuations; exponential growth; population explosion (and subsequent crash) (boom and bust cycles); extinction; speciation; and adaptation.
From genetics: genetic variation; mutation; genotype/phenotype distinction; genetic drift; and genetic disorders.
From ecology: ecological niche.
The program is easy to use, requiring am IBM PC or true IBM compatible with 128 K of memory and a colour/graphics adaptor card. The program runs from DOS, which fewer and fewer students are used to using, but which is simple enough to navigate through. The program is designed so that it can be used without reference to printed instructions, however there is a User's Manual which explains the program and its uses in depth. The Manual exists as a series of text files on the main program disk. They can be used on-screen or printed out to form a hard-copy manual.
|
|
Wendy Wright, Monash University, 1999 |
| |
| Supplier: |
Life Science Associates, One Fenimore Road, Bayport, NY 11705-2115, USA |
|
lifesciassoc@pipeline.com |
|
http://www.pipeline.com/~lifesciassoc/ |
|
phone: (516) 472 2111 |
|
fax: (516) 472 8146 |
| Date Record Last Modified: |
28/7/99 |
