Insect Adaptations
Adaptation and evolution in insects: peppered moths as a famous example of natural selection (dark moths survived better on soot-covered trees during the Industrial Revolution). Stick insects evolved to look like twigs. Ant-mimicking spiders evolved to fool predators. How small changes over many generations lead to remarkable disguises.
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“Can your child explain why peppered moths changed colour during the Industrial Revolution — and how that's an example of how living things adapt over many generations?”
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- Activity. Adaptation and evolution in insects: peppered moths as a famous example of natural selection (dark moths survived better on soot-covered trees during the Industrial Revolution). Stick insects evolved to look like twigs. Ant-mimicking spiders evolved to fool predators. How small changes over many generations lead to remarkable disguises.
What to notice. Retell the peppered moth story and explain how the environment changed which colour moth survived best • Describe how a stick insect's body shape is an adaptation that helps it avoid being eaten • Explain that adaptations develop over many generations through natural selection, not during one insect's lifetime
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Can your child explain why peppered moths changed colour during the Industrial Revolution — and how that's an example of how living things adapt over many generations?
Adaptation and evolution in insects: peppered moths as a famous example of natural selection (dark moths survived better on soot-covered trees during the Industrial Revolution). Stick insects evolved to look like twigs. Ant-mimicking spiders evolved to fool predators. How small changes over many generations lead to remarkable disguises.
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Check understanding
- Retell the peppered moth story and explain how the environment changed which colour moth survived best
- Describe how a stick insect's body shape is an adaptation that helps it avoid being eaten
- Explain that adaptations develop over many generations through natural selection, not during one insect's lifetime
“Can your child explain why peppered moths changed colour during the Industrial Revolution — and how that's an example of how living things adapt over many generations?”
Curriculum record
- Type
- Conceptual
- Subject
- Science
- Domain
- Insects & Minibeasts
- Age range
- Ages 9–11