MS-LS4.C-1

Adapt

Experience Awakening - Our open-world educational game

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Game Info for Teachers

COMBINED RATING

4.1 Stars

TEACHERS (34)

4.4

STUDENTS (7734)

3.7

LENGTH

16 Minutes

GRADES

CAPABILITIES

iPad Support

Spanish Language Support

Text-to-Speech Support

Saves Progress

Description

In this game you will help your population endure the changing environment. Collect points to buy different genes that will change the population as reproduction cycles occur. Be careful and keep track of changes in temperature, food supply, and predators that will affect your population! Watch the timeline on the top to be aware of upcoming events, and keep an eye on the meters on the left for the overall health of your population.

Vocabulary Words

Charles Darwin

Theory of Evolution

Of the Origin of Species

natural selection

genes

DNA

mutations; (structural

behavioral

physiological)

environmental changes (variables)

adaptation

population

predator\/prey

distribution of traits

reproduction cycle

carnivorous

extinct

global warming

herbivorous

habitat

Ice Age

insectivorous

defense mechanism

camouflage

Instructions

Play through this interactive game to learn about Adaptation. Suitable for Grade 6, Grade 7, Grade 8.

Main Concepts

Traits that support successful survival and reproduction in the new environment become more common; those that do not become less common. Thus, the distribution of traits in a population changes.

Adaptation by natural selection acting over generations is one important process by which species change over time in response to changes in environmental conditions.

Natural selection leads to the predominance of certain traits in a population, and the suppression of others.

Organisms display behavioral adaptations that help them survive in their environment.

Natural selection can be influenced by genetic mutations that create new traits in a species.

Natural selection can be influenced by a change in abiotic conditions.

Organisms have structural adaptations that help them survive in their environment.

High genetic variation improves the chances that a species can survive a change in the environment.

Short- and long-term environmental changes to an ecosystem can affect the populations within the ecosystem.

Natural selection can be influenced by a change in available resources.

Adaptations are the physical structures, internal processes, or behaviors that improve an organism's chances of survival in its environment.

Discussion Questions

Before the Game

What is the theory that Charles Darwin proposed? What are mutations and how will they benefit your creatures in this game? What does natural selection mean?

After the Game

hat three types of adaptations did you encounter in the game? What are examples of the three types of adaptations that you could give your creatures in the game? What strategies did you use to choose the correct adaptations to help your creatures survive until the end? If you were to play the game again, what different choices would you make? How did the game help you understand the theory of natural selection? After playing the game, how do you understand why some species have gone extinct?