Natural selection doesn't just shape beaks--it also shapes brains! To survive the winter, chickadees have evolved an amazing ability to remember where they cached (hid) food items in their environment! (Imagine if you could remember the locations of thousands of individual seeds!)
This game is inspired by real research on the neurological and behavioral differences in Black Capped-Chickadees, Carolina Chickadees, and their hybrids. Each bird type differs in their spatial memory, which affects their ability to survive harsh winters (when there's no available food). It's a game about natural selection and hybridization, and how they interact with climate change!
This video supports lesson 2 of Galactic Polymath's free unit "Hybrid Zones: Evolution's testing grounds." The first half of the video sets up gameplay, and the second half explains the main take-homes.
Check it out here:
www.galacticpolymath.com/lessons/12
Funded by the National Science Foundation
Featuring and produced by: Dr. Amber Rice (Lehigh University), Dr. Timothy C. Roth, II (Franklin and Marshall University), and Dr. Scott Taylor (University of Colorado Boulder).
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