What makes one animal better suited to its environment than another? Explore the concept of evolutionarily stable strategies with a video from Veritasium. Biologist Richard Dawkins explains how behavioral traits become predominant in a population through very specific circumstances.

Concepts

evolution, natural selection, animal behavior, animal populations, survival of the fittest, statistics

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Additional Tags

science

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Instructional Ideas

• Have the class search for specific examples of animal behavior that represent evolutionarily stable strategies
• Learn more about Richard Dawkins by visiting his foundation's webpage

Classroom Considerations

• Take a moment to talk with the class about important concepts in the video, such as adaptations and behaviors

• This video is hosted on YouTube

Pros

• Animated sequences are amusing and help clarify how the featured behaviors affect populations
• The content is interesting and provides a new approach to how adaptations occur

Cons

• None

Common Core

SL.9-10.2