AP Biology Activities

Peppered Moths

Peppered Moths NetLogo Model

Explore the Galapagos Interactive

The Galapagos Islands, a remote archipelago off the coast of Ecuador, may be the birthplace of our scientific understanding of evolution. Charles Darwin, who put the Galapagos on the map, pointed to them as the "origin of all my views." In this multimedia feature, get a sense of their extraordinary animals and landscapes through panoramic photos, video, and audio. And trace Darwin's journey to see how the islands sparked his thinking about evolution.

Beak Adaptations Matching Activity

Fossil Evidence Interactive

In 2004, scientists digging in the Canadian Arctic unearthed fossils of a half-fish, half-amphibian that all but confirmed paleontologists' theories about how land-dwelling tetrapods–four-limbed animals, including us–evolved from fish. It is a classic example of a transitional form, one that bridges a so-called evolutionary gap between different types of animal. In this slide show, examine five important cases.

The Zoo of You Interactive

You may not feel much like a shark, fruit fly, or worm, but you share many aspects of your anatomy and physiology with these and all other animals on Earth. All the various bits and pieces of you–organs, bones, nerves, even your genes–show up in different but fundamentally similar forms in other animals, in some cases animals that lived half a billion years ago, revealing how all creatures on Earth, including you, are just variations on a theme.

Guess the Embryo Interactive

All animals on Earth use essentially the same toolkit, so embryos of different species can appear startlingly similar to one another. Here, try to match a series of embryos to their adult forms, and then watch each creature develop during a portion of its early growth.

Evolution Interactive Crossword Puzzle

The Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium

The Hardy-Weinberg Principle Fill-in-Exercise

Hardy-Weinberg Rags to Riches Challenge

Evolution in Action Interactive

Darwin recognized that species evolve over time as their environments change. In this feature, see for yourself how a changing environment (represented by different background colors) can prompt the evolution of a population of virtual creatures. Like real-world organisms, these creatures are born, produce offspring—some of which have random mutations that affect their color—and die off. How will they evolve?

Evolution of Populations Interactive Crossword Puzzle